01. 04. 2022 conference " rebuilding social capital : the role of central banks ” banco de portugal pablo hernandez de cos governor thank you very much pedro. thank you, mario for the invitation. and congratulations to all the staff of the banco de portugal for this commemoration. the banco de portugal has indeed built an excellent reputation among the central bank community over all these years. it is surely a good starting point for the banco de portugal to rebuild social capital here in portugal. as lucrezia said, the topic of the conference — the role of central banks in building social capital — is a rather complex question. i will try to simplify it a bit, perhaps too much. i will approach the topic from one angle, which is related to the reason for the specific institutional setting that we, central banks or supervisors in general, have as compared to other public authorities, which is essentially one of independence, or autonomy, if you prefer. it is interesting to go back to the original reason why we want central banks and supervisors to be independent. this is based on the evidence that we have on the determinants of longterm growth, which points to the importance of the quality of institutions. good quality of institutions is important in particular to allow long - term considerations to be incorporated into the decision - making process. this is, for me, the most relevant argument justifying independence of central banks. independence should allow us to incorporate into our decision - making elements that are relevant for the welfare of citizens in the long run. it is much more difficult for politicians to do this, basically because, of course, they incorporate the political cycle into their decision - making. but, if this is the case, then the legitimacy of central bank´s independence is essentially based on utilitarian grounds, in the sense that we think, with this independence, we are in a better position to deliver on our mandate. the key e is how can we invest in this legitimacy in a better way. probably the best way to do so is to connect this need for delivering on our mandates to the controls, the transparency and the accountability that always needed to go hand in hand with independence. relate to the efficacy in delivering on our mandates, one thing that probably we have not done enough, and i will give an example of what the basel committee is doing, is to evaluate what we do, and in particular evaluating our own capacity to deliver. central banks do very often is to emphasise the need for

publication of a new plan of action for the 2018 - 2021 period. it includes objectives additional to the previous ones, including most notably the identification of target segments of the population not sufficiently catered for, the use of digital tools for the development of financial education initiatives and the strengthening of the plan ’ s network of collaborators, which provide a boost for and outreach to people in all social circumstances and situations. to attain these objectives, analysis and use of the results of the aforementioned survey of financial competences will naturally be pivotal. i have no doubt that, thus conceived, the financial education plan will play an important role in alleviating the risks arising from digitalisation in the provision of financial services. thank you very much for your attention. 7 / 7