importance of strengthening financial literacy, skills, attitudes and behaviours. in fact, this conference is organised in the context of the global money week in cyprus for 2023. also, the cbc has recently become a full member of the international network on financial education ( infe ) of the oecd, in which it aspires to have an active role in the network's activities. finally, i would like to mention that the cbc continues to devote resources on research of this topic, particularly in examining the link between financial literacy and financial stability. according to preliminary findings from the 4th wave of the household finance and consumption survey in cyprus, financially illiterate individuals are 7 - 11 % more likely to have late loan payments, providing evidence on the negative correlation between the level of financial literacy and financial stability risks. the analysis is still work in progress. more extensive results on the issue are expected from further analysis as well as from the new more elaborate survey on which we are collaborating with the oecd. concluding remarks 3 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches let me conclude by reiterating that this conference is a milestone event and sets the pace for a new era in cyprus. an era whereby all efforts for the promotion of financial literacy and education in cyprus are coordinated under the national strategy umbrella, so as to enhance the well - being and prosperity of cypriot citizens and to support the financial resilience and sustainable economic growth in the country. as governor of the central bank of cyprus my promise is to assist the new permanent committee's role in implementing the national strategy, as we also ensured that the cbc prioritises and leads this initiative since the very first establishment of the committee in december 2020. in this conference, we brought together a top - notch group of experts from both cyprus and abroad, that can exchange expert views and share with us their knowledge on best practices from other countries'experiences. i would like to mention by [ surname ] alphabetical order, professor panayiotis andreou from the cyprus university of technology, dr sophia anyfantaki from the bank of greece, professor adele atkinson from the university of birmingham, dr maria demertzis from bruegel, professor michael haliassos from goethe university frankfurt, professor alexander michaelides from imperial college london, professor andreas milidonis from the university of cyprus, dr elena miteva from the organisation of economic co - operation and development ( oecd ), professor dennis philip from durham university and dr

of last year and is currently in a moderate cyclical upswing underpinned by more favourable external conditions. merchandise exports increased markedly in the first quarter of this year and survey indicators point to a sustained improvement in economic sentiment. tourism activity also seems to be recovering. the latest unemployment rate – 6. 9 % in march 2010 – is one of the lowest in the euro area, where the average stands at 10 %. looking ahead, forecasts by the central bank of malta and the european commission ( ec ) anticipate gdp growth of 1. 1 % and 1. 2 %, respectively this year, followed by 1. 7 % and 1. 8 % in 2011. 6 domestic demand is expected to be the main engine of growth, mainly driven by a pick - up in investment, but the contribution of net exports is thought to be negative in both years, as imports are projected to grow at a faster pace than exports. labour market conditions are expected to remain soft, reflecting the usual lagged response to the recovery in output. the unemployment rate is thus foreseen to stay slightly above 7 % in both years. inflation is also projected to remain subdued at around 2 %, but it will still be somewhat higher than the euro area average. similarly, compensation per employee is forecast to rise by around 2 %. as this increase in nominal wages is more reflective of inflation developments rather than productivity gains, it could put pressure on cost competitiveness. 7 forecasts are of course subject to uncertainty at the best of times. in the present period of renewed crisis, the risk to the projections is clearly on the downside, mainly because of the clouded outlook for demand in malta ’ s main trading partners and the likely spillover from the deflationary fiscal policies being adopted in many countries. the recovery in europe is also constrained by the deleveraging process currently underway in the banking sector and in the private sector generally. together with the fiscal tightening, this balance sheet consolidation largely explains why the ec is forecasting only a modest recovery in the euro area and the eu this year, with growth rates of 0. 9 % and 1. 0 %, respectively. lessons learned and the way forward several lessons can be drawn from the crisis, but two come to mind more readily. the first is that those countries which entered the recession already burdened with imbalances – both internal and external – have performed more poorly than those with sounder economic fundamentals. the second is a universal law that often