development committee ( joint ministerial committee of the boards of governors of the bank and the fund on the transfer of real resources to developing countries ) one hundredth meeting washington, dc – october 19, 2019 dc / s / 2019 - 0060 october 19, 2019 statement by ignazio visco governor of the bank of italy constituency of albania, greece, italy, malta, portugal, san marino and timor - leste statement by ignazio visco governor of the bank of italy constituency of albania, greece, italy, malta, portugal, san marino and timor - leste 100th meeting of the development committee october 19, 2019 washington, dc the global business cycle remains very weak. geopolitical tensions, combined with the sharp decline in international trade recorded in the last few quarters, weigh on firms ’ confidence and on investment. employment and wage growth continue to support incomes, mainly thanks to the resilience of services, but manufacturing is particularly sluggish. if the latter proves to be persistent, it will inevitably reverberate across the other sectors of the economy. the main risk to the global outlook once again derives from commercial tensions. besides the already visible effects of the escalation of tariffs, quantitative restrictions can also have a significant global impact, particularly if accompanied by dislocation of value chains. the introduction of export restrictions in some countries may lead to trade diversion or import substitution, with efficiency losses. after many years of success in the fight against extreme poverty, a substantial and persistent global slowdown may reverse this trend ; we are already seeing the rise of poverty in several of the poorest countries. indeed, poverty risks becoming more entrenched and harder to root out. business as usual will not be enough. an effective cooperation among all development partners, both bilateral and multilateral, is essential to strengthen the policy dialogue and catalyze the development of the private sector. the battle against extreme poverty needs to be fought in sub - saharan africa and fragile and conflictaffected settings. because of sub - saharan africa ’ s slower rates of growth, problems caused by conflict and weak institutions, and a lack of success in channeling growth into poverty reduction, transformational change is needed in those areas. to reach the world bank group ’ s ( wbg ) goal of bringing extreme poverty below 3 percent by 2030, the world ’ s poorest countries will likely need to grow at a rate far surpassing historical experience. moreover, this growth must be highly inclusive, reaching every

unnoticed or be considered as inadequate. i would suggest the same philosophy to the business community. for objective reasons, the concept of free money belongs to the past. by that i mean that a bank loan should be earned, which means unconditional and honest cooperation within the legal and regulatory framework approved by the country ’ s authorities. of course, banks are established to lend money, but first and foremost we need to bear in mind that the public deposits ’ stability is more important than an individual business loan or bank portfolio. moreover, the business community needs to recalibrate its position in relation to recent developments both in the national and global economy context. it must aim a higher productivity, primarily through identifying comparative advantages in the framework of global changes. in that regard, it is necessary to adopt new business administration philosophies on capacity building and investment in human resources, governance, internal control, financial and legal expertise, and risk management. besides a legal relation, the bank - client relation is a human relation, one of trust. when a business delays the payment of a bank loan instalment, it should consider its judgement on the bank if the bank delayed the payment of the matured interest to that business. dear ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the bank of albania, i would like to invite the communities present in this event to strengthen their communication bridges, which is of benefit not only to them but also to the economy in general. bis central bankers ’ speeches