we began to gradually phase out some of our extraordinary liquidity measures, taking account of improvements in financial markets. in particular, we scaled back the number, frequency and maturity of longer - term refinancing operations. but we have committed to maintaining fully accommodating liquidity support to the euro area banking system until at least october this year. the governing council is of the opinion that the current monetary policy stance is appropriate, and that the continued firm anchoring of inflation expectations bodes well for price stability in the medium term. 2. specific issues raised in the european parliament ’ s draft resolution let me now turn to some of the issues you raise in your draft resolution. on the issues of accountability and transparency, we very much appreciate the regular dialogue with the european parliament and the constructive spirit with which this exchange is conducted. i therefore welcome the econ committee ’ s repeated support for our quarterly monetary dialogue. an independent institution like the ecb, which is accountable to the european people, has to be in close contact with their elected representatives. we consider the ecb to be one of the world ’ s most transparent central banks. our practice of holding a press conference immediately after the governing council meeting on monetary policy each month remains a pioneering initiative that has not yet been replicated by our major sister institutions. with the publication of our comprehensive introductory statement in real - time, we explain policy decisions and their underlying rationale. during the crisis, we have further intensified our communication efforts and thereby helped to smooth financial market reactions, to build confidence and to lay the foundations for recovery. you also requested the views of the ecb on the establishment of a clearing house for instruments such as credit default swaps ( cdss ) within the euro area. i would like to say that the robustness of euro - denominated cds markets is of direct relevance for the eurosystem as regards control over its currency and financial stability in the euro area. central counterparty clearing is very important not only for delivering transparency, but also for diversifying and sharing risk exposures and reducing the incentives to take excessive risks. certain financial instruments, which were introduced for hedging, should not be misused for speculation. regulators should be able to undertake effective investigations into possible improper conduct. 3. the outlook for emu during challenging times mr president, honourable members of the european parliament, an economic recovery is in progress, but this does not mean that the crisis is over. for one thing, we know

efficiency gains with technology - enabled financial inclusion ; and c. third, having a clear picture of the policymakers ’ role in promoting an enabling environment for financial innovation and technology. putting on a new lens : exploiting mainstream innovations with a financial inclusion focus today, financial innovations have penetrated, and continue to permeate almost every aspect of financial activity. this has been driven by faster computing speed, lower cost of storage and faster problem - solving capabilities. bis central bankers ’ speeches technology is being used by financial institutions to improve operations – from improving customer experience to constructing better models to manage risks more efficiently and effectively. in many cases, strategic partnerships with fintech companies have been established to achieve similar outcomes. the advent of robo - advisers and algorithmic underwriting are some of the examples. these developments have largely evolved within the mainstream customer segments and have proven to be effective. clearly, opportunities exist to leverage on capabilities that are already in place to create specific applications for financial inclusion. with proven application, the prospects for achieving greater scalability, faster time to market and increased take - up are correspondingly greater. for years, financial institutions have invested heavily in technology that has helped improve the collection and mining of financial and non - financial data to gain richer insights into customer preferences and behaviours. these same capabilities create immediate opportunities to identify specific barriers to financial inclusion for different target groups whose needs are shaped by very different priorities, experiences, values and norms. for example, cultural biases can be an important factor that is not fully appreciated and understood as a factor that limits higher levels of financial inclusion among women. among lower income groups, a more granular level of analysis on income patterns is needed to structure solutions that address the irregularity in loan repayments. financial inclusion for the ageing population is another critical area that requires more understanding. it is important that new products, delivery channels and technologies also work well for our senior citizens that are financially excluded. many financial products and services offered today have age limits that create barriers to access financial services. this ought to be changed to ensure inclusive financial systems for the ageing population segment. technologies that enable better data collection and analytics can support deeper research to fill this gap while mitigating the risks to providers of financial solutions. beyond data applications, opportunities exist in other areas. for example, distributed ledger technology eliminates the need for centralised transaction validation and shortens the settlement chain, effectively lowering costs of real - time remittances. by incorporating adequate