in our arsenal. then we would have location - based measures. let me tell you that i ’ m still a bit sceptical about focusing only on real estate prices. why? firstly, we must keep in mind that we have a mandate to ensure the stability of the entire financial system. secondly, stability in the real estate sector is not sufficient enough for financial stability in general. yes, trends in the real estate sector are extremely important. for prudential policy they are important to the extent that they relate to developments in credit, balance sheets of financial institutions and, the financial system as a whole. but at the same time – the real estate sector is not the only one to keep an eye on. imbalances in other asset markets, vulnerabilities in the banking sector – these also demand our equal attention. let us look at the expansion of credit which is most likely the culprit of “ speeding ” prices. some colleagues distinguish between “ productive ” and “ non - productive ” credit, because not every credit contributes equally to economic growth. a loan to finance a business is much more productive than a mortgage to buy an old apartment. non - productive credit instead of fuelling the economy might be felt as a heavy load. so should macroprudential policies be active in steering credit structure towards some desirable levels? for example, imposing different risk weights on different types of credit? what measures do we already have in order to start implementing such policy? today we will hear about prudential policy experiences in different countries. and i ’ m excited to open the floor to needed and well - targeted discussions. 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches i wish you an interesting day and fruitful exchange of views. and now i gladly pass the microphone to our keynote speaker, our good friend governor ingves. please, stefan, the floor is yours. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

speech by gediminas simkus at the joint webinar “ investment in the baltics : from pandemic to war ” 2022 - 05 - 20 joint bank of lithuania, bank of estonia, bank of latvia, and european investment bank webinar “ investment in the baltics : from pandemic to war ” 20 may 2022 welcome and opening remarks good morning, dear vice president ostros, governor muller, governor kazaks, dear colleagues and webinar viewers, a warm welcome to this joint webinar organised by the bank of lithuania, the bank of estonia, the bank of latvia, and the european investment bank ( eib ). 1 of 1 we are living in extraordinary times : just as the pandemic pressures started to ease, we got hit by another huge shock – the war in ukraine. let me stress that we stand in full solidarity with ukraine. to date lithuania welcomed some 51, 000 ukrainian refugees and is one of the largest donors of bilateral aid to ukraine in percentages of gdp. while we hope for a swift end to this unjustified war, currently the risks that the war in ukraine escalates remain high. we are experiencing an unprecedented degree of uncertainty. this is worrying, as numerous surveys and reports show that uncertainty is the largest barrier for private corporate investment in the baltics. fortunately, policymakers can address this. as we witnessed in the months following the outbreak of the covid - 19 pandemic, high quality and well - targeted public investment in times of high uncertainty enhances output. it also crowds in private investment, rather than crowding it out. the covid - 19 pandemic offered an opportunity for firms to become more digital. demand for electronic services rapidly increased, creating perfect conditions for expansion of electronic payment service providers. growth in electronic payments created value in the lithuanian financial sector. for instance, one of the lithuanian payments start - ups recently attracted an impressive 65 mln us dollar series a funding. the growing fintech sector also contributes towards solving the structural problem of concentration in the lithuanian financial sector. at the same time, business funding through crowdfunding platforms also gained traction. as pointed out in the eib investment survey that will be presented here shortly, total investment in lithuania rose to 5 % above pre - pandemic levels by the end of 2021. a similar pattern was observed in latvia, while in estonia investment in 2021 stood at staggering 30 to 40 % above pre -