in mitigating risks. this includes putting in place a conducive regulatory environment in terms of the laws and regulations that protect consumers and undertaking surveillance and supervision to ensure the responsible behaviour by financial institutions. the international community is giving greater attention to consumer protection issues given the potential for high charges for such financial services and for borrowers to become over - indebted. while most countries have leveraged on the existing legal or regulatory frameworks developed for consumer protection in general, there is a need to recognise the limitations of such general frameworks in addressing consumer protection in the context of promoting a more inclusive financial system. a consumer protection regime that relies on full disclosures may mean very little to consumers that have neither the capacity to understand the disclosures, nor the ability to exercise the appropriate choice between the products being offered. existing consumer protection frameworks may need to be adapted to address the specific needs of the more vulnerable groups. finally, the development of a financial education programme is vital to enhance financial capability for consumers to participate effectively in the financial system that is dynamic and fast evolving. we are now in an environment that is seeing the proliferation of financial products and services and the emergence of electronic finance. greater financial literacy will also ensure that the financial industry will be responsive to the more discerning demands. being ill equipped or having a lack of understanding of the nature of the products could increase vulnerability to misselling by financial institutions or to fraud and scams. proficiency in financial knowledge will contribute towards greater empowerment and competent financial decisions. studies have shown that financial education that is made available at an early age, in the school education system, will strengthen this potential and enhance the greater financial inclusion. in malaysia, the commitment to the financial inclusion agenda is legislated under the new central bank of malaysia act 2009 which provides as one of our primary functions – to promote the development of a sound, progressive and inclusive financial system. malaysia ’ s financial inclusion agenda has been developed in concert with the development of the overall financial sector and encompasses the five broad strategies. our blueprint for the development of the financial sector for the next decade will give special focus on financial inclusion and consumer protection. in the previous decade, the focus was bis central bankers ’ speeches to enhance the access to financing, financial education and putting in place the supporting institutional arrangements to enhance financial inclusion. while these efforts will be intensified further in this next decade, greater leverage will be made on technology and on new institutional arrangements to extend the outreach to the

perrazzelli deputy governor of the bank of italy workshop on italy ’ s attractiveness dubai expo 24 november 2021 2 including italy, recorded a marked increase, in connection with fears about a possible reduction in monetary accommodation. government policies adopted during the pandemic to support households and firms ’ access to credit contributed to mitigating the impact on the quality of bank assets. indeed, banks ’ nonperforming loan ratio remained stable at historically low levels, and the gradual phasing out of the support measures, which is now being implemented in the context of the economic recovery, is occurring without tensions. banks, on their side, should continue to carefully assess the borrowers ’ repayment capacity and to make prudent and timely provisions. the gradual recovery in the real estate market continues, in line with the current economic condition and with no signs of overvaluation. the medium - term growth prospects and risks looking ahead, prospects remain favourable. in its latest assessment, the european commission projects italian gdp growth to exceed 6 per cent this year, 4 per cent next year and to remain above 2 per cent in 2023, with output regaining its pre - crisis level in the first half of 2022, which is earlier than previously anticipated. our own expectations are similar. we 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches envisage strong domestic demand to sustain economic recovery. a significant contribution to growth is expected to come from investments, thanks both to fiscal policy measures – with the use of national and eu funds – and to financing conditions that, based on current market forward rates, are set to remain favourable. this macroeconomic scenario remains subject to non - negligible risks. in the short term, the new worsening of the pandemic – although much less severe than in the past waves and currently more pronounced in other countries of the euro area – could lower household and business confidence and delay the recovery of contact - intensive sectors. a longer persistence of supplyside bottlenecks could exert a more pronounced impact on production and inflation. further elements of uncertainty relate to the international economic cycle. in the medium term, it will be crucial to ensure a significant reduction in the debt - to - gdp ratio through higher growth and steady fiscal consolidation. the opportunities offered by the national recovery and resilience plan over the longer horizon, economic prospects for italy may benefit substantially from policies aimed at fostering growth potential. the nrpp, engaging 205 billion euro of eu funds ( with additional 30 billion