treaty clearly prioritises price stability as the ecb ’ s primary objective. within this disciplining framework, we tailor our policy response to the challenges at hand. in response to the events of the past six years, we ’ ve taken swift and resolute action. we cut the main policy rates to record lows. we provided funding support to euro area banks over long time horizons. and we counteracted and removed unwarranted fears of a breakup of the euro area. in july this year, we again expanded our toolkit to protect the nascent recovery from the risk that it could be choked off prematurely by an unwelcome restriction in monetary conditions. to that effect, the ecb ’ s governing council adopted explicit communication on how it expects its key interest rates to evolve in the future. in particular, we have communicated our bis central bankers ’ speeches expectation that the key interest rates will remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time. this expectation is based on our assessment that the subdued inflation outlook extends into the medium term, given the broad - based weakness in the real economy and subdued monetary dynamics. what was the rationale for adopting “ forward guidance ”? in june and july, we observed substantial volatility in money market rates. the pricing of term interbank credit in the money market – the first stage of the transmission of monetary policy to the broader economy – had become increasingly divorced from euro area fundamentals. markets tended to overreact to news that was either not directly relevant to the euro area macroeconomic outlook or simply confirmed our baseline scenario. against this background, our forward guidance aimed at better aligning money market conditions with our policy intentions. in interpreting our forward guidance, there are three essential elements. first, it acknowledges the scope for further cuts in our key interest rates. in other words, the adoption of forward guidance does not imply that we ’ ve reached the effective lower bound. indeed, the opposite is the case : the governing council has unanimously agreed to incorporate an easing bias into our forward guidance that explicitly provides for the possibility of further rate reductions, should the volatility in money market conditions return to the levels observed in the early summer. second, our forward guidance is specifically tailored to the ecb ’ s mandate and monetary policy strategy : the path of the policy rates remains conditional on the outlook for inflation ; and it will be reviewed over time against the analytical framework underlying the ecb ’ s monetary policy strategy.

credit, including that provided by a growing number of nontraditional entities through digital solutions. second, it will institutionalise inter - agency arrangements between authorities responsible for regulating consumer credit activities to promote consistent minimum protections and fair treatment of borrowers. and third, it will provide stronger assurance of more responsive and coordinated consumer protection arrangements to take into account the fast - evolving financial services landscape going forward. equally important is a strong focus on financial education to promote financially and digitally literate consumers. safeguarding the interests of consumers without stifling innovation remains one of the most difficult balances to achieve for regulators. regulators are constantly trading off considerations of privacy against efficiency ; fragmentation against competition ; access against risks of abuse. in the digital age, these trade - offs become impossible without equipping consumers with the information, knowledge and tools that they need to protect themselves and make decisions that are in their own best interests. it is only through a complementary mix of appropriate but not excessive regulation, and enlightened and confident consumers, that we will find the right balance of guiding the development of digital financial services so that it is neither hurried nor hampered, and remains sustainable and well - functioning to promote financial stability and inclusive growth. for bank negara malaysia, our regulatory agenda is supported by a long - standing focus on financial education. this year, i am pleased to share that this has been elevated to a nationallevel priority with the launch of malaysia ’ s first five - year national strategy for financial literacy. a key focus of the strategy is helping consumers protect themselves against fraud and exploitation, and embrace innovation more confidently in the digital era. this needs to start with the young, but without neglecting those for whom the digital world is both unfamiliar and daunting. specific challenges in a digital era let me just mention a few of the specific challenges that financial services authorities will have to contend with in the digital era. 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches increasing incidents of data abuse on social media platforms, security breaches and cybersecurity threats can sow mistrust and confidence deficits in digital systems. in our respective markets, these incidents are likely to reveal gaps in existing data protection and consumer protection regimes and the need to explicitly address ownership rights and permitted uses of personal customer information. prospects of digital profiling, and decisions driven by the use of complex algorithms can also result in financial consumers being unfairly discriminated against or targeted by unsolicited and unscrupulous marketing campaigns