in the currency market. we also have specified limits on domestic entities ’ ability to take on foreign credit. the banks do not lend to households or companies in foreign currency unless they have revenues in foreign currency. we have limits on fx futures and derivatives to prevent short - term speculation, as one of the main problems that we faced before the 2008 crisis was carry - trade speculation. so far, we have been able to maintain stability in the balance of payments and our currency despite a large interest rate differential vis - a - vis our neighboring currency areas. the third lesson is that the best recipe for economic stability is integrating macroprudential and monetary policy in managing credit growth and leverage ratios. the icelandic banks are well funded and have among the highest liquidity and equity ratios of banks in the advanced economies. we require high capital buffers, countercyclical buffers, and systemic buffers as well as employing other regulatory requirements. we have also introduced borrower - based measures to cap lending to households. households are required to have at least 15 % equity in order to buy a home and the maximum debt servicing capacity of 35 % to income. for the past two or three years, the central bank ’ s main goal has been to prevent a boom in the real estate sector from being transmitted into the financial sector while the real economy has grown at a rapid pace. in the years 2021 to 2023, the economy grew by a total of 20 % in real terms which is very strong on any scale. the bank has indeed succeeded in preventing excessive borrowing and indebtedness, or the development of a debt bubble. we have seen negative real credit growth for the past 12 months, and a rise in equity ratios for households and most businesses. nevertheless, it is very important for a small open economy to focus on credit growth. excessive growth of credit over time always leads to trouble in the balance of payments, a current account deficit, or an imbalance in capital flows. one of the main challenges which we faced after the crisis was to restore public trust. thus, the fourth lesson is transparent and proactive supervision, which is the key to public trust. it was, i think, highlighted when problems occurred with the small and regional banks in the us, like silicon valley bank. it is very important to draw both systemic and systematic conclusions from supervisory data and not get lost in the details. strict rules on conduct play an important role in the icelandic financial market regulation, caps on bonuses, restrictions on

system. this has been the work of many. the main goal has been to establish resilience to shocks. this we have achieved and the overall results can among other things be seen in the development of the net international investment position which is now positive. the icelandic economy has moved from being in debt to the rest of the world to being a creditor country - which is in a way a testament to our policies. i would like to quote helen rey on how you create resilience : “ independent monetary policies are possible if and only if the capital account is managed, directly or indirectly, regardless of the exchange - rate regime ” today, i will discuss six lessons that may be drawn from the icelandic experience of building a “ new ” financial system. first of all, one actor in charge. one of the main problems prior to the crisis was that there was no single actor responsible for financial stability. we had several actors with unclear responsibilities. but with the merger of the fsa and the central bank in 2020, the chief responsibility for financial stability was assigned to one institution, the central bank. following the change in the central bank act in 2020, three committees take all central bank policy decisions : the monetary policy committee, the financial stability committee, and the financial supervision committee. all the committees have external as well as internal members. the set - up, inter alia with official policy statements and publication of minutes, ensures transparency in the decision making, how decisions are taken and why. in my capacity as governor, i chair all three committees, but i have only one vote when decisions are taken. second lesson, managing the balance of payments. we abolished the capital controls, but we have maintained indirect control of the balance of payments through macroprudential policies and measures and also by building up and strategically using our foreign currency reserves. in 2011, there was a volcanic eruption in iceland, which you may remember because air traffic came to a halt over the north atlantic and much of europe for a couple of weeks. we have this saying ; all publicity is better than no publicity, and even very negative publicity became a fiery start of the tourism boom in our country. tourist arrivals went in just a few years from 300, 000 per year to 2. 5 million. when the tourist boom took off the central bank used the opportunity, provided by the associated currency inflows, to accumulate foreign reserves in the open market. since then, we have used the reserves to maintain stability and ensure liquidity