more recently, the same data have suggested that the renewed lockdown measures in autumn 2020 and january 2021 had a much smaller adverse impact on economic activity. harnessing non - standard data not only requires new technologies, techniques and skills, but also increases the need for multi - disciplinary teams. this is particularly true for unstructured data. while many financial market participants already use text analytics and natural language processing regularly, new ‘ deep learning ’ methods allow for much more than textual analysis of policy statements, minutes and transcripts. voice analysis, for instance, makes it possible to study the tone and emotions associated with policy communication during press conferences. 10 these rapid advances in artificial intelligence are also largely the result of the tremendous growth in data, which – combined with a massive increase in computing power – can be used to train deep learning algorithms. the logical next step is to combine artificial intelligence with process automation. businesses have used automation for many years but its benefits have become more apparent during the covid - 19 pandemic. unlike other forms of automation, process automation combined with artificial intelligence can not only execute business processes but also decide dynamically if and how a given process should be executed. another notable automation trend is the rise in electronic trading tools, such as ‘ execution algorithms ’, or eas. such algorithms are designed to trade a predefined amount according to a set of pre - programmed instructions. a 2020 bis study – which i had the honour of chairing – explored the impact of eas on market functioning, focusing on fx markets. it found that the rapid rise of eas in fx markets was driven by the electronification of these markets and their concomitant fragmentation across a multitude of new fast - paced electronic trading venues. according to the study, before the covid - 19 pandemic, fx execution algorithms already accounted for 10 – 20 % of global fx spot trading ( approximately 200 to 400 billion us dollars in daily turnover ). with the further rise of digitalisation, their use is expected to grow, potentially altering market dynamics. 11 in fragmented, fast - paced fx markets, execution algorithms have many advantages. they process new information quickly and they direct orders simultaneously across multiple trading venues. this helps traders to navigate fragmented markets and to optimise trade sebastien p. kraenzlin, christoph meyer and thomas nellen ( 2020 ), ‘ covid - 19 and regional shifts in swiss retail payments ’, snb working papers series, 2020 - 15. yuri

wider opportunities will be afforded for further development and growth. then, however, we will face new important challenges 1 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches and it will be up to us to cope with them and take full advantage of the opportunities presented to improve society's well - being. the adoption of the euro as the national currency will be a crucial point in the economic history of bulgaria. before us is the choice to work together for a better future not only for us, but also for the next generations. bulgaria's integration into the euro area means that its monetary policy will be identical to that of all other countries sharing a common currency. thus, the importance of sound fiscal policy for maintaining economic stability will increase even further. also, priority should be given to structural reforms, which should be aimed at increasing productivity and improving our international competitiveness, and hence our standard of living. the scale of success, on the other hand, always depends on our choices. the advantages that the adoption of the euro gives us must be used to the maximum. today, the bulgarian credit institutions are among the best capitalised in the european union ; they can boast of efficient operations and competitive profitability, which contributes to their ability to withstand serious economic and financial shocks. on the other hand, bulgaria's participation in the banking union provides us with an additional toolkit necessary to prevent possible future shocks in the financial sector. this way, the supervisory reflex and proactive sensitivity needed to spot the risks arising'from below'will be built up. the transposition of the european supervisory framework has led to strict capital and liquidity requirements, an entirely new macro - prudential setup that effectively regulates excessive risk - taking and creates resilience and stability in the system so that it can cope with potential consequences, while remaining highly capitalised and profitable at an aggregated level. but let's also look at mutual successes. our preparation for the adoption of the euro has been going through the effective dialogue between the regulator and the businesses for the adaptation of the relevant legislation, the mandatory dual display of prices in bgn and eur, the adjustment of it systems, the reconfiguration of atms and pos terminals, etc. another success factor will be a good communication strategy regarding the adoption of the euro, based on the joint efforts of the public and private sectors, which will lead to strong public support, so that the positive expectations of society are met. thank you for your attention