##demic, ensured that the economic fallout from the second and further waves was more subdued. the rapid roll - out of vaccines in developed countries led to a gradual lifting of restrictions on economic activity and to a resumption of investment and consumption with far fewer bankruptcies than expected, although at the cost – consciously incurred – of a one - off increase in public debt. many advanced countries have now reached, or are close to reaching, pre - crisis output levels. under the italian presidency, the g20 also took action to help the weakest economies that had been disproportionally hit by covid - 19. it provided support to multilateral mechanisms, ensuring wide access to tests and vaccines. in addition, to address the structural weaknesses highlighted by the pandemic, it established a new panel on prevention and preparedness that advanced proposals to improve the mobilisation of funding and enhance coordination between health and finance ministries and international organisations. work to deliver a shared solution on these issues will continue in the next few months under the indonesian presidency. the g20 also agreed to extend the suspension of debt service payments for 50 countries until 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches the end of the year, and to renew efforts to operationalise the common framework for the treatment of the distressed debt of some eligible countries. while the latter has encountered some difficulties, last october g20 ministers and governors reiterated their commitment to make progress. the g20 also agreed to make 650 billion dollars available in additional reserves through a general sdr allocation, with rechannelling options to allow low - income countries to receive further support. on the second issue – the fight against climate change – our presidency began at a time of swiftly rising awareness of the issues raised by climate change among savers, investors, financial market operators and the public at large. the attitude of g20 delegations was ( and is ) also changing. it is no surprise that countries differ widely in their priorities and sensitivities on this issue, but there appeared to be a worldwide surge in the feeling that a conversation on actions needed had to be held within the g20 framework in a multilateral format. the italian presidency, of course, cannot claim to be the prime mover of any of these global developments. however, i think we can fairly say that the presidency quickly sensed the new spirit, and saw the opportunity to channel it into a concrete discussion of steps to take. under our presidency, the sustainable finance study group has been

to step up significantly the pace of purchases to be conducted under the pepp until the end of june compared with those made in the first months of the year. the governing council will in any case continue to purchase flexibly according to market conditions. 2 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches the balance sheet at the end of 2020, the bank of italy ’ s total assets amounted to €1, 296 billion. of this, 70 per cent is ascribable to monetary policy operations ( compared with 40 per cent in 2014 ) : securities reached €539 billion, up by €155 billion compared with 2019, of which €473 billion are italian government securities. refinancing operations, totalling €374 billion, rose by €154 billion. compared with the previous year, the value of the gold reserves rose by €15 billion, to €122 billion, increasing by almost 50 per cent compared with ten years ago. in line with eurosystem accounting rules, this appreciation is recorded in the revaluation account on the liability side and does not contribute to the bank ’ s net profit. investment assets other than those held for monetary policy purposes rose by €8 billion, to €148 billion ; of these, 86 per cent are public sector securities, 10 per cent are equity and investment fund shares, and the remaining 4 per cent consist of other financial assets. investment criteria that take into account environmental, social and governance ( esg ) best practices, which were introduced in 2019 for the management of equity portfolios, were extended to other types of financial instruments. applying these criteria has made it possible to achieve, in the last two years, risk - adjusted returns that exceeded the corresponding benchmarks, especially during the phases of strong turbulence that affected the financial markets in connection with the pandemic. together with the other central banks of the eurosystem, we agreed on a common stance on the climate - related sustainability of euro - denominated investment not connected with monetary policy operations. in doing so, the eurosystem is contributing to the achievement of the european union ’ s climaterelated objectives, in line with the provisions laid down in the eu treaties. moreover, by recognizing the importance of providing the market with adequate information on environmental risks and on the activities that affect the climate, the eurosystem ’ s central banks are promoting the production and dissemination of reliable data and of statistical and accounting standards that are as suitable and homogenous as possible