financial stability, primarily to eu households and businesses, remain. and it ’ s important to note that financial stability is not the same as market stability ; a disruptive brexit could still be expected to bring significant market volatility. of course, shocks can also be operational, with operational disruptions having the potential to cause harm to consumers and market participants, and cause instability in the financial system. the bank and financial conduct authority ( fca ) have been focussing on this recently, with a programme of work to build the financial sector ’ s operational resilience10. we ask firms to plan on the basis that operational disruption will occur, and so the focus of our work has been on the ability of firms, fmis, including chaps - run by the bank, and the sector as a whole not only to prevent, but to ensure that they can respond to, recover and learn from operational disruptions. financial policy summary and record ( march 2019 ). available at : https : / / www. bankofengland. co. uk / financial - policy - summary - andrecord / 2019 / march - 2019 key elements of the 2019 stress test ( march 2019 ). available at : https : / / www. bankofengland. co. uk / news / 2019 / march / key - elements - ofthe - 2019 - stress - test building the uk financial sector ’ s operational resilience. available at : https : / / www. bankofengland. co. uk / prudentialregulation / publication / 2018 / building - the - uk - financial - sectors - operational - resilience - discussion - paper all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / publications / pages / speeches / default. aspx innovation and resilience of the bank ’ s own operations the bank, and other authorities, can provide a platform for innovation through the hard and soft infrastructure it provides. the bank ’ s biggest piece of hard infrastructure is rtgs ; settling around £600bn every day, rtgs is at the backbone of uk payments, and a piece of critical national infrastructure. rtgs eliminates settlement risks ; claims between banks and other participants are able to be settled in central bank money – the ultimate liquid asset. and rtgs plays an important role in the post - trade system. crest11 and cls12 both settle through rtgs, enabling us to deliver safe settlement in

1. 7 % in 2016 and 1. 8 % in 2017. again compared with the projections in june, the outlook for real gdp growth has been revised downwards. this is due primarily to lower external demand owing to weaker growth in the emerging markets. the risks to this outlook are tilted to the downside, reflecting in particular the increased uncertainties related to the external environment. notably, current developments in emerging market economies have the potential to further affect global growth adversely via trade and confidence effects. before addressing the second part of my remarks, let me revert to the evolution of the output gap, i. e. the difference between actual and potential output. the negative output gap is expected to narrow gradually over the projection horizon, which is encouraging news. ecb staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area, september 2015. eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area, june 2015. bis central bankers ’ speeches however, it is also necessary to stress that while the output gap is narrowing, it is occurring against a background of weak potential output growth, which is estimated to be around 1 % over the projection horizon. this is below its pre - crisis level. in noting this, we should, moreover, not overlook the fact that since the late 1990s the euro area experienced a steady decline of potential output growth : from about 2 % in 2000, it declined continuously to about 1. 5 % before the crisis. there is indeed a problem in long - term growth dynamics. this problem is not new but has deepened over time. with this in mind, let us consider very briefly fiscal and monetary policy before focusing later on structural reforms. starting with fiscal policy, it should support the economic recovery, particularly through growth - enhancing public investment, material and immaterial, while remaining fully compliant with the stability and growth pact. a full and consistent implementation of the pact is crucial to maintain confidence in the euro area ’ s framework. this, in turn, would have positive implications for future growth prospects, which should help ensure debt sustainability and be conductive to future fiscal space. with regard to monetary policy, which has to be focused on the primary objective of maintaining price stability over the medium term, its highly accommodative stance has contributed and continues to contribute to support economic activity and investment, narrow the negative output gap and foster economic growth. let us also bear in mind the important fact that price stability, as well as financial stability, is a conditio sine qua non