opening remarks delivered by mrs. leila matroos - lasten, acting president of the centrale bank van curacao en sint maarten during the second of the third cbcs central banking conference opening remarks delivered by mrs. leila matroos - lasten, acting president of the centrale bank van curacao en sint maarten on the occasion of the third cbcs central banking conference reinventing central banking : supporting inclusive growth and financial innovation centrale bank van curacao en sint maarten, willemstad june 7, 2019 excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. welcome to the second day of the third central banking conference of the centrale bank van curacao en sint maarten ( cbcs ). on behalf of the board of directors of the cbcs, also today i would like to extend a special, heartfelt thank you to the speakers who graciously accepted our invitation. during yesterday ’ s program, we discussed the concept of inclusive growth. ms. henriquez of the cbcs kickedoff the program with an overview of indicators beyond the gdp for inclusive growth, while mr. ivanyna of the imf and mrs. grenade of the caribbean development bank focused on the development of inclusive policy frameworks and the impact of such policies on our communities ’ well - being. mr. kanz from the worldbank discussed household over - indebtedness and the policies and actions that can be undertaken in this area. additionally, the program featured a presentation on the determinants of growth in the caribbean by ms. dare and ms. hieroms of the cbcs. finally, given the continuous risk of financial instability, mr. campos cuevas of the asba shared some insights on resolution regimes, while the governor of the central bank of trinidad and tobago, mr. hillaire, shared with us the lessons learnt in the area of resolution regimes. the overarching theme of this year ’ s conference : “ reinventing central banking : supporting inclusive growth and financial innovation ”, is no coincidence. inclusive growth and financial innovation are two areas where the cbcs can play a key role in supporting the sustainable development of curacao and sint maarten. the theme underscores a very important issue that we all are facing : the digital economic sector is purported to be growing 35 % faster than the wider economy. if inclusiveness, financial technology, and innovation

of last year. the inflation projections were also revised down, to 0. 1 % for 2015 and 1. 1 % for 2016. inflation is, therefore, expected to continue to rise, in 2017 also, but at a slower pace, remaining still some distance from the price stability target of 2 %. on 3 september the ecb reiterated that it was willing and able, if need be, to adopt a more expansionary monetary policy stance. the various measures taken, including in particular the purchases of government debt securities, have allowed a more uniform transmission of expansionary momentum to the euro area countries. this benefits, in particular, the countries such as spain that were hardest hit by the fragmentation of european financial markets. the financing conditions of the spanish economy have improved significantly. lending is slowly but gradually returning to normal, as households and firms undertake the necessary deleveraging and new financing flows towards those that are in the best position to take on new investment and spending projects. as the cost of these new funds is lower, this also bis central bankers ’ speeches reinforces the fiscal consolidation process and helps improve the balance of payments position. performance of and outlook for the spanish economy compared with the weakening in the euro area, gdp in spain grew by 1 % in q2, slightly above the growth rate for the opening months of the year. this figure confirms the recovery in the spanish economy, the progress made in the correction of imbalances and the improvement in financing conditions for households and firms. gdp growth in q2 continued to be based on highly robust domestic demand, with some quickening among the components most closely linked to private demand ( household consumption and investment in capital goods and housing ). however, net external demand made a slightly negative contribution, as has been the case almost continuously since the start of the recovery, owing to the strong import momentum. the latest indicators, for q3, suggest that this growth trajectory will hold in the second half of the year, in keeping with the banco de espana ’ s pre - summer projection of gdp growth of slightly over 3 % in 2015. for 2016 the estimate was marginally lower ( 2. 7 % ), on the back of a degree of weakening in some of the factors that have driven growth this year, stemming in the main from the drop in oil prices and the depreciation of the euro. as i indicated earlier, the outlook for the external setting has deteriorated and there is heightened uncertainty and volatility in the financial markets. it is