yannis stournaras : the greek economy - investment gap and the financing of investment needs opening remarks by mr yannis stournaras, governor of the bank of greece, at the presentation of the eib investment survey results 2023 for greece titled : " the greek economy : investment gap and the financing of investment needs ", athens, 30 may 2024. * * * ladies and gentlemen, i would like to welcome you to the ank of greece and to the presentation of the results of the 2023 eib investment survey for the greek economy. in my opening remarks, i will briefly refer to the growth prospects of the greek economy and to the particularly important role of investment. 1. the greek economy : current state and prospects the greek economy grew by 1. 2 % in the fourth quarter of 2023, after 2. 1 % in the previous quarter. this slowdown is attributed to declines in the growth rate of investment and of exports of goods. for 2023 as a whole, the economy continued to grow at a satisfactory rate ( 2 % ), but weaker relative to the exceptional growth in 2022 ( 5. 6 % ). yet, despite successive international crises and high uncertainty due to geopolitical tensions, the greek economy has grown faster than the euro area average since 2021. private consumption, exports of goods and services and gross fixed capital formation remained the main drivers of growth in 2023, although the slowdown in the economies of key trading partners and high inflation exerted a dampening effect on these gdp components. overall, in the coming years, the greek economy is projected to outperform the euro area. this development is particularly important, as it reinforces the process of convergence of greece's real gdp per capita with the average levels of the eu, which was interrupted during the sovereign debt crisis. the main driving forces of economic activity will continue to be investment spending, thanks to the contribution of the european funds, in particular of the rrf, as well as private consumption, due to a rise in real disposable income on account of higher employment and lower inflation. 2. the role of investment spending given the problems of population ageing, low birth rates and low labour force participation, the role of investment in physical and human capital becomes decisive for the future course of the economy in both the short and the long run. in the short run, investment spending boosts demand and growth. in the long run, it increases the capital

our respective responsibilities in relation to financial stability and provides a structure for the necessary close cooperation between us. in the terms of the mou the bank is responsible for the overall stability of the financial system as a whole. the mou implicitly recognises the inter - relationship between monetary and broader financial stability, which is fundamentally important : just as we could not hope to deliver monetary stability if the financial system was crashing around our ears, so, too, monetary stability is a very necessary though in itself still insufficient - condition for stability of the financial system. specifically the mou recognises the bank ’ s role - as the bankers ’ bank - at the heart of the payments system ; and it recognises our capacity, in exceptional situations and subject to override by the chancellor, to act as lender of last resort in order to limit systemic damage. the mou acknowledges more broadly the bank ’ s oversight role which enables us to advise on the financial stability implications of developments in domestic and international markets and payments systems ; and it acknowledges finally also our role in promoting the efficiency and effectiveness of the financial sector, with particular regard to international competitiveness, but which can also contribute to the robustness of the financial system. in the context of the uk ’ s highly developed and increasingly integrated financial services industry, in which distinctions between banks, building societies, investment intermediaries, insurance companies and so on have been becoming increasingly blurred, the argument for moving away from a fragmented supervisory and regulatory structure, in which banks were separately regulated, was compelling - and howard and his team have done a tremendous job in bringing all the different strands of financial services regulation together under the fsa umbrella seamlessly and in a relatively short space of time. a potential downside from the bank of england ’ s perspective was the possible loss of information from, or contact with, the banking sector which might reduce our capacity to exercise our responsibility for the stability of the financial system as a whole. now of course it is early days to begin to assess the new arrangements from this perspective. it is true that we have not had any serious threats to financial stability in this country over the past three years, but i suppose that putting that down to the new structure would be a bit like the man who claimed that the absence of pink elephants in hyde park was the direct result of his clicking his fingers there on his regular morning walks. we really haven ’ t been tested. all i can say is that i am encouraged by the close cooperation between