the implementation phase of mica, esma ( in close cooperation with eba, eiopa, ecb and bnb respectively ) will consult the public and businesses on the creation and implementation of technical standards, which will be subsequently published. the goal of this effort is to prepare measures as soon as possible to include stakeholder feedback. the date of entry into force of these measures will depend on their adoption by the european commission and their subsequent approval by the european parliament and the council of the eu. in parallel with these processes, the bnb is working with the european supervisory authorities on supervisory convergence, the aim here being to ensure compliance of supervisory expectations related to entities offering services related to e - money tokens in eea jurisdictions and to encourage, from the outset, consistent practices to be used after the final entry into force of mica, particularly in relation to licensing regimes. it should also be noted that in the coming year, topics related to environmental, social and governance ( esg ) activities will be important for the bnb and the banking community. with regard to esg, the bnb adheres to compliance with european legislation in this area ( such as sfdr – the sustainable finance disclosure regulation ), as well as to the eba policies, which recommends the incorporation of esg risks by credit and financial institutions. the eba has put into practice a number of definitions, processes, mechanisms and supervisory practices in relation to credit and financial institutions with the aim of identifying and managing esg risks. among them are the requirements for the mentioned companies related to the disclosure policies of the incorporation of the esg factors, which we should consider through the overall political discourse of the green transition. in the current year, we can report significant progress in terms of projects in the field of payments related to the preparation for the country's entry into the euro area, the effects of which will be fully felt in 2024. this progress was achieved with the help and active participation of the banking community in bulgaria. in march of this year, the migration to the eurosystem's new consolidated target services platform took place. the new platform has become a stable foundation of the financial market infrastructure of the euro area. in october of this year, another important project in the field of payments was completed – this is the project for the 3 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches migration of budget payments to the single euro payments area ( sepa ) standards. next, we should note the development

this particular reason, the specified coordination of fiscal and monetary policies is of prime importance so as to ensure the attainment of the medium and long - term objectives of a sustainable and balanced growth and moderate inflation. i am happy to say that for the performance of this task we can count on the cooperation with the banking and financial community, as the banking system is well capitalised and liquid, which, in terms of the mentioned risks to economic development, is both a corrective mechanism and a buffer for a balanced growth of the financial system and the economy as a whole. in this regard, it should be noted that the tendency towards increasing 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches disposable income will have a positive effect on the capacity of households and businesses to service their loans, which in turn contributes to the stability and capacities of the banking system. from a european perspective, according to eurostat's projections, the euro area's annual inflation ( hicp ) is estimated to be 2. 4 % in november 2023, falling from 2. 9 % in october 2023. in terms of the main components of inflation in the euro area, foodstuffs, alcohol and tobacco registered the highest annual rate in november ( 6. 9 % compared to 7. 4 % in october ), followed by services ( 4. 0 % compared to 4. 6 % in october ), nonenergy industrial goods ( 2. 9 % compared to 3. 5 % in october ) and energy ( - 11. 5 % compared to - 11. 2 % in october ). the data seem to indicate that the periods of high, i would say " frenzied ", inflation are passing. as a result of the mentioned dynamics, it is expected that in 2024 the ecb will stop raising key interest rates, which in turn will halt the increase in the interest rate spread of commercial banks and will intensify the pressure for efficiency in their business. the main question to be answered regards the potential growth drivers in 2024, primarily in a national context, which are relevant to the financial sector and its resilience. first of all, here we should note the importance and role of the investments in infrastructure which, within the current discourse about 2024, will be digital infrastructure. on the one hand, digital infrastructure should ensure an advance from basic information security to promoting complete customer financial literacy that would counter cyber threats more effectively. in 2024, the financial sector is expected to