. conclusions the challenge of central banks, and of other public institutions, is to participate in the innovation process and contribute to the creation of instruments that can guarantee trust in the financial and payments system today and in the future. i think it is essential that the institutions, in order to allow this transformative action, also perform a propulsive function, together with an action to address and contain risks, continuing to operate on the technological frontier to effectively respond to the growing demand for efficiency coming from financial intermediaries, citizens and businesses. thank you for your attention. designed by the printing and publishing division of the bank of italy

effects of the pandemic crisis : from the mismatch between supply and demand, which creates procurement problems and fuels inflation, to the sharp rise in national public debt, to the need to normalize monetary conditions which had become extremely accommodative in order to address the most acute phase of the crisis and to stimulate the recovery. the war in ukraine has also caused gdp growth to fall compared with what had been expected based on the boost given by the ngeu programme, conceived precisely as europe ’ s response to the effects of the pandemic crisis. the second instrument, currently being designed, will serve to increase – and to lay lasting, solid foundations for – the ecb ’ s capacity to ensure that the impact of monetary policy is as uniform as possible across the entire euro area. i would like to clarify two aspects of this decision and these instruments. first : their aim is purely one of monetary policy, intended to facilitate the pursuit of price stability ; they have no other purpose, much less that of financing imprudent and unsustainable fiscal policies. second : the gradual normalization of monetary policy and the action taken to fight fragmentation are fully complementary. the former cannot proceed in an orderly fashion without the latter ; in order to defend the appropriate monetary policy stance, we must prevent malfunctions or interruptions in its transmission mechanism. * * * i am convinced that the ecb ’ s determination will also contribute to restoring order to the markets. this will help investors to more carefully and accurately access the real condition of our economy. looking ahead, there are clear signs of improvement. the debt - to - gdp ratio is falling and, according to the european commission ’ s most recent assessments, it will continue to decrease this year and next. thanks to the high average residual maturity ( close to 8 years ), the average interest rate on government bonds should remain lower than the nominal gdp growth rate, while interest payments should stay low in the coming years as well. the net international investment position is positive ; italian producers are successfully competing on export markets ; household debt is the lowest among the main countries of the european union and that of firms is below the average ; conditions in the banking sector have improved in terms of the volume of non - performing loans and profitability, while capitalization, though down a little on last year, remains at high levels. today it is up to us to maintain and build on the strengths of our economy and keep the public accounts under control