by about 5. 0 percent to us $ 21 billion. this was due to the fall in the stock of foreign direct investment ( fdi ) owing to valuation effects on equity mostly held by the mining and quarrying sector. nonetheless, fdi continued to account for the largest share of the stock of private sector foreign liabilities. private sector external debt, which accounted for about 80 percent of foreign liabilities, increased by 5 percent to us $ 17 billion due to revaluation changes in non - us dollar denominated loans predominantly in the electricity, manufacturing, information and communication as well as real estate sectors. esteemed invited guests, in terms of flows, overall net foreign liability outflows of us $ 74 million 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches were recorded in 2020 against net inflows of us $ 357 million in 2019. this was due to loan repayments to non - affiliates by the mining, manufacturing, electricity as well as wholesale and retail trade sectors, and the reduction in currency holdings by non - residents in domestic deposittaking corporations. however, fdi liability inflows amounted to us $ 200 million compared to us $ 860 million in 2019. reduced re - invested earnings and debt repayments, largely by the mining and quarrying sector, accounted for the decline in fdi inflows. canada continued to be the major source of private sector foreign liabilities. ladies and gentlemen, the stock of private sector foreign liabilities declined further in the first half of 2021 to us $ 20 billion due to loan repayments mostly by the mining and quarrying sector as well as revaluation effects on equity. however, a net inflow of about us $ 600 million was recorded against net outflows of us $ 295 million a year ago. this was due to the upswing in fdi inflows on account of higher reinvested earnings by the mining, deposit - taking corporation, manufacturing, electricity, as well as information and communication sectors. distinguished ladies and gentlemen, another major finding from the survey is that the stock of private sector foreign assets rose by 16 percent to us $ 3. 0 billion in 2020 mainly due to the increase in currency and deposits by the mining and deposit - taking corporations. the surge in the holdings of currency and deposits contributed significantly to the increase in foreign asset flows by 60 percent to us $ 700 million. however, fdi asset acquisitions slumped to us $ 63 million in 2020 from us $ 624 million in 2019 owing

by data on personal spending, which represents almost 70 percent of gross domestic product. continuing progress on inflation depends on lowering demand and moderating economic activity, and the retail sales and spending data suggest that progress on reducing aggregate demand may have stalled. whether or not subsequent data confirm the setback in progress last month, the fomc will do what is needed to reduce inflation to the committee's 2 percent objective over time. it is possible there may be some bumps on that path, but i assure you, the fomc's dual mandate objectives will be achieved. inflation has been elevated for nearly two years due to an excess of aggregate demand relative to supply. even though the fiscal stimulus and goods supply constraints that contributed to that imbalance have mostly unwound and the fomc has rapidly raised the target range for the federal funds rate, the labor market remains very tight and aggregate demand has proved resilient to 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches considerable increases in interest rates. one implication of the strong labor market is that the fomc's maximum employment goal has been achieved and monetary policy can be utterly focused on fighting inflation. any fear that we might face two - sided risk in achieving our dual mandate was blown away by the january employment numbers. but an excessively tight labor market complicates the path toward achieving price stability, because wages are growing faster than they have in decades, at a pace that may contribute to keeping inflation elevated. we see this excess pressure in the fast growth of services prices, where labor costs are a higher share of overall input costs and shortages of workers are reportedly most acute. although inflation has been coming down since the middle of last year, the recent data indicate that we haven't made as much progress as we thought. that assessment goes for both overall inflation, and " core " inflation, which strips out volatile energy and food prices and is a good guide to future price increases. and this holds for both cpi and pce measures of inflation. core cpi inflation over the last three months of 2022 was revised up from 3. 1 percent ( at an annual rate ) to now be 4. 3 percent. similarly, the 2022 fourth quarter pce inflation data was revised from 2. 9 percent to 3. 6 percent. and the three - month rates increased in january ; even measures that trim out the largest and smallest price changes saw increases. these data underscore the view, as laid out in the f