article. i worked on it only in my free time, of which i do not have much as the deputy president of the central bank. ten years ago, over a three – month period, i would probably not have been able to collect even half of the literature, not to mention the ongoing monitoring of speeches delivered at all important conferences dedicated to global imbalances. it goes without saying that progress in the ict has contributed to the deepening of the globalization process and significantly enhanced labour productivity in many sectors. global imbalances one of the manifestations of globalization in recent years are global imbalances. in 2005, the us current account deficit approached 6. 5 % of the gdp, and many forecasts of investment banks point to its further increase in 2006 and 2007. 25 the negative net investment position of the world ’ s largest economy has moved towards 30 % of the gdp in 2005 and, according to all available forecasts, it is bound to deteriorate at a high rate. the large current account deficit in the us is related to the negative savings of households and a strong growth in real property prices. these phenomena have occurred in the recent years not only in the us but also in all anglo - saxon countries. 26 moreover, the current account deficit in the us is financed in a great measure by purchases of american debt securities by the asian central banks. it entails a significant increase in the exchange reserves of the said banks. for instance, the reserves of the people ’ s bank of china went up from usd 166 billion in december 2000 to usd 819 billion in december 2005 and over usd 850 billion in march 2006. it means that china is now ahead of japan obstfeld m., rogoff k. “ the six major puzzles in international macroeconomics : is there a common cause? ”, nber working paper 7777, 2000. feldstein m. “ monetary policy in a changing international environment : the role of capital flows ”, nber working paper 11856, december 2005. friedman t. “ the world is flat. a brief history of xxi century ”, farrar, straus and giroux, new york, 2005. according to the world economic outlook published by the imf in september 2005, the forecasted us current account deficit will amount to usd 759 billion in 2005 and will increase to usd 805 billion in 2006. both values correspond to 6. 1 % of the forecasted gdp. some forecasts

drawbacks. it generates new types of risk, which constitute challenges to central banks and supervisors of financial markets. globalization of financial markets and the related rapid growth of turnover in credit derivatives, such as cdos or default swaps, force a focus on understanding, what types of risk are generated in particular market segments. such risks should be continuously analysed by central banks and supervisory authorities. it may happen in the future that the social groups which incur losses in the process of globalization will force the decision - makers to take up protectionist actions, which may contribute to significant lowering of the future economic growth, through limiting the benefits from international trade. therefore, economic policy, especially in the countries with a large share in the global product, should be schoenmaker d., oosterioo s. “ cross - border issues in european financial supervision ”, in : mayes d., wood g. ( editors ) “ the structure of financial regulation ”, london 2005. directive 2002 / 87 / ec of the european parliament and of the council of 16 december 2002 on the supplementary supervision of credit institutions, insurance undertakings and investment firms in a financial conglomerate and amending council directives 73 / 239 / eec, 79 / 267 / eec, 92 / 49 / eec, 92 / 96 / eec, 93 / 6 / eec and 93 / 22 / eec, and directives 98 / 78 / ec and 2000 / 12 / ec of the european parliament and of the council. the act on supplementary supervision over credit institutions, insurance companies and investment companies in a financial conglomerate of 15 april, 2005, ( the journal of laws no. 83 / 2005, item 719 ). in poland there has been no need so far to appoint a leading supervisor, as the links among financial entities do not indicate the existence of financial conglomerates under the said act. simson b. a. “ the future of central bank cooperation ”, bis working papers no 200, february 2006. “ managing payment liquidity in global markets : risk issues and solutions ”, a report prepared by cross - border collateral pool task force, new york, march 2003. conducted in a manner that would enable to avoid the scenario of protectionism growth. after all, one of the greater threats which are difficult to evaluate is the risk of adjustment of global imbalances, especially where it results from market forces without support from adequate reforms. so far, globalization has served humanity well. i