##ers, both from labour and capital, and without knock - on effects for future generations. in italy, a prudent fiscal policy has helped reduce the yield spread between italian and german ten - year bonds ; it is currently below 190 basis points, which is still well above the value that would be warranted by italy's macroeconomic fundamentals and around double that of spain and portugal. 3 / 11 bis - central bankers'speeches - and its impact on government, corporate and household debt at present, the hikes in key interest rates are broadly manageable for italy's public finances, since the average cost of debt is increasing gradually, thanks to its high average residual maturity. italy's government has prudently planned to gradually narrow the deficit throughout the current three - year period, aiming for a primary surplus next year, to bring it to 1. 1 per cent of gdp in 2025 ; nominal gdp growth itself supports the fall in the debt burden. against this background, the planned reduction in the eurosystem's securities reinvestments which, as i recalled earlier, will take place at a measured pace and announced ahead of time, is not likely to have a significant impact on the placement or yield of government bonds. the debt of italian firms and households remains low by international standards, despite firms largely resorting to guaranteed loans since the onset of the health emergency and mortgages growing strongly over the last few years. overall, it stands at 112 per cent of gdp, compared with an average of 168 per cent for the euro area. the financial stability of our economy is also benefiting from the improvement in corporate capital structures, a process that started in the early years of last decade and was only temporarily interrupted by the pandemic - related crisis. by last september, the debt of non - financial corporations had declined to below 70 per cent of gdp, more than 13 percentage points lower than its peak during the sovereign debt crisis. higher capitalization levels and reduced reliance on bank borrowing mean that leverage ( i. e. the ratio of financial debt to the sum of financial debt and equity at market value ) has fallen from 50 to 41 per cent since 2011. over the same period, bank debt as a share of total financial debt has dropped from 67 to 52 per cent. the situation of firms is inevitably affected by surging energy prices, the slowdown in economic activity, rising interest rates and less favourable access - to - credit conditions. their ability to service debt

is still ongoing, it is clear that climate risks pose a 2 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches direct threat to financial stability. however, it is important to understand that central banks are not the main policy makers in this area and that they cannot take on more than what their legal goals prescribe. we must not allow the form to be more important than the essence and the unconditional acceptance of the trend to jeopardize what is most significant to us : stability, which has no alternative. depending on how much climate risks can affect financial stability and the implementation of monetary policy, they need to be considered and taken into account when defining our operational frameworks. since climate change knows of no boundaries, international coordination is crucial for advancing this process. global coordination enables exchange of experience, and the diversity of views and inclusiveness lend creditability to proposals and decisions. at the same time, jointly designed solutions have a greater potential for yielding concrete results. on 2 july this year, on its 137th anniversary, the nbs became a member of the network of central banks and supervisors for greening the financial system, showing that it is ready to directly take part in the development of the latest solutions in greener and more sustainable financing. expectations from central banks are great not only because of the adjustment of monetary policy framework, but also because of our expertise that many economic actors rely on in their decision - making. it is common knowledge that central banks conduct independent, high - quality economic analyses and present to the public nothing but facts. for this reason, we can recognise in time and point to the developing risks which may reflect on the financial sector and entire economy. however, we need to continue improving the quality of information about climate risks without which informed decisions cannot be made. hence the importance of the work of international organisations, such as the international financial reporting standards foundation. serbia showed its commitment to progress in this area in september when it issued green bonds for the first time ever. at the same time, we are the first european country outside the eu that did this. a portion of funds will be used to support projects in the area of sustainable energy, energy efficiency, transport, environment and biodiversity, as well as sustainable wastewater management and prevention of pollution. over 200 eminent investors across the globe showed interest in investing in our eurobonds following successful talks of the nbs and ministry of finance delegations with a great number of international investors and financial institutions. ( slide 7 ) the second significant challenge that