##b and our banking sector, respectively, are the first public institution and the first economic sector in bulgaria to be part of the euro area. the bnb participates in making the most important decisions related to the supervision and resolution of european banks, including bulgarian ones. moreover, our vote, regardless of the size of our economy and banking sector, has the same weight as the vote of any other central bank in the euro area. furthermore, in the person of mr. radoslav milenkov, the bulgarian national bank has a representative in the steering committee of the supervisory board of the ecb ’ s banking supervision, which includes representatives of only five national supervisory authorities. this is a position that is taken on a rotational basis, but the fact that we receive it at the beginning of our membership is an extremely important sign. these developments in recent years alone have led me to draw the following conclusion : the bnb and our banking sector are very strong examples of institutional development in an environment of still serious institutional deficits. the recipe for this is simple : the right decisions in the right strategic context. the right actions in the banking sector have included major reforms in the sector, including the central bank governance model and the banking supervision, and the right context is the sector's accession to key euro area institutions such as the single supervisory mechanism and the single resolution mechanism. the practical result is the solid capacity, resources and expertise built to solve the challenges facing the sector and the economy. they have been tested and convincingly demonstrated in recent years. the bnb was one of the first central banks to initiate a large - scale anti - crisis package of more than 8 % of gdp at the outset of the covid pandemic. we did it in march 2020, when it was still debated if it wasn't just a common cold that would go away in the summer. the alternative was to wait, monitor and analyse the situation for at least a few months before taking concrete action. from today's perspective, we can say that such waiting could have impacted very adversely banks, businesses and households alike. it was that anti - crisis package that allowed the introduction of a moratorium on loan repayments, which at its peak exceeded bgn 9 billion. here is the place to emphasise that this was a private moratorium, an initiative by our commercial banks, as they better than anyone else understand that when their customers are not well, they are not well either. the association played a

of instant credit transfers in bgn. currently, we report that through the borika ad blink service practically 100 % of customer bank accounts in the country are accessible for instant payments in bgn, which are executed within 10 seconds, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. as i already said, in the coming year a number of challenges are expected on various fronts, but then again they provide opportunities for the sustainable development of the financial sector as a whole, with which the payment systems in the country will be integrated into the corresponding systems and infrastructures of the euro area. the mentioned projects are essential for the country's financial infrastructure, especially in terms of digitisation and cyber resilience processes, as they will become a foundation for further development of innovations in the sector. the realisation of the stated goals and the prevention of the analysed risks could not be possible without the joint efforts of the regulator and market participants through fruitful cooperation, smooth communication and strong motivation to achieve results. i wish you success in the new, challenging year 2024, as well as fruitful discussions in a spirit of partnership and cooperation. 4 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches