on this as regional cooperation looms large in the african monetary cooperation programme that you have embarked upon. today, all countries – rich or poor, big or small – are confronted with the various challenges thrown up by globalisation. smaller countries face bigger challenges and even greater risks, as we know only too well. we have to reckon with unpredictable external shocks, such as oil price hikes, drop in the export price of our commodities, or of our manufactured exports. how should we react in the face of globalisation? should we, like one latin american country did last week, pull out of the imf and the world bank? it would be disastrous to envisage such a scenario on our continent as most of our countries are still indebted to these institutions, which for all their imperfections, have done a creditable job. of course, we are not denying that there is considerable scope for achieving a better and more equitable international financial architecture more suited to the needs of our region. faced with the challenges stemming from globalisation, we have to build greater economic resilience into our economies. turning our back on globalisation is not an option. protecting our markets and insulating our labour force from competition can buy short - term peace and create the illusion of growth and welfare. sustainable growth does not lie in that direction. burying your head in the sand was never a good strategy. nations across the world are integrating their economies with those of their neighbours, to create larger and more competitive regional economic groups, and to engage in international trade – not as individual states but as regional powers. in africa, now more than ever before, regional economic cooperation and integration has become a necessary condition for longterm sustainable development. it is in this context that we must focus on the objectives of the african monetary cooperation programme. this programme requires us to adopt collective policy measures to achieve a harmonised monetary system and create a common management institution. the harmonisation of the monetary cooperation programmes of the various sub - regional groupings constitutes the first stage. these will then serve as building blocks for the single african monetary zone, which we expect by the year 2021, with a common currency and a common central bank. to move in this direction, the aacb has adopted a set of quantitative macroeconomic convergence criteria, that should be observed by at least 51 percent of aacb members, before we can launch the african monetary union. there are some encouraging signs. growth performance during the last three years in sub

about future developments, and growing debt service due to higher interest rates, ( ii ) the close link between the banking sector and the government sector, and ( iii ) the polarization of credit institutions by size. the slowdown in lending, which started in the second semester of 2022, was also due to the rise in financing costs amid the tightening of both monetary policy stance and 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches credit standards. in the second quarter of 2022, banks tightened credit standards for loans to non - financial corporations and to households, and were expected to continue to do so in the third quarter of 2022. the prolonged energy crisis, the heightened geopolitical tensions and the mounting uncertainty about the economic outlook prompted banks to reassess the level of risk. in respect with challenges raised by climate change and energy efficiency, as of may 2022, the nbr started collecting information on green loans from banks. the data shows that, between may and september 2022, companies took out green loans totalling 976 million lei ( 0. 56 percent of the corporate loan portfolio ). the composition of these green loans was dominated by credit for green buildings ( 42 percent ), followed by loans for electricity and heating and cooling systems ( 24 percent ) and those for energy efficiency ( 13 percent ). last but not least, a word on economic growth. for 2022, the annual real gdp growth is estimated to reach about 5 percent, which is lower than the one recorded in 2021. for the past year, growth was driven by the substantial advance during the first part of last year. in 2023 domestic economic activity is projected to lose significant momentum, due to certain substantial adverse influences, as previously mentioned. a favourable contribution to economic growth is expected to come, particularly over the medium term, from european funds, including the next generation eu programme. with these in mind, i now invite vice - president pavlova to take the floor. afterwards, i wish you all fruitful discussions, stemming from the eib investment survey findings. thank you. 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches