financial conditions worldwide. real rates increased at all maturities and share prices fell, amid rising volatility. risk premia on european asset classes have gone up relatively more, owing to the stronger impact of the war in ukraine. tensions emerged in some key currency markets, including the yen and the british pound markets. financial markets remain exposed to a variety of risks. stock and bond markets are volatile, and exposed to changes in investor sentiment ; in this context, the importance of preserving confidence in the government bond market, with a credible long - run strategy for the public finances, is, i think, well understood. private credit risk may also increase because of weakening growth and increasing debt servicing costs. tensions on commodities markets have increased and may remain elevated. high natural gas prices have already started to spill over to substitutes ( coal for instance, and also elements used in the production and storage of renewable energy such as lithium and nickel ), and to energy - intensive commodities. 2 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches a protractedly deteriorating macroeconomic environment might affect italian firms'vulnerability. on the other hand, in italy stability risks stemming from households appear limited overall, thanks to low indebtedness ; the increase in energy prices, though, is making its impact felt on the most vulnerable ones. bank credit to the italian private sector continued to expand at a robust pace in recent months. the italian banking system is facing the risks linked to the current situation from a stronger position than on the eve of previous crises. banks'asset quality remains good on average, and the new non - performing loan ratio is still low, although the share of stage - 2 ( i. e., riskier ) performing loans has started to increase. banks'capitalisation, while coming slightly down in the first half of the year, is higher than before the pandemic. with all this, banks remain highly exposed to cyclical risks, and should cautiously factor in all uncertainties when making their risk and capital management decisions. insurance the impact of the market turmoil on italian insurers'solvency ratio has remained modest until now. in the market - consistent framework on which prudential standards are based, ( risk - free ) interest - rate increases act on both sides of insurers'balance sheet. the fair value of assets decreases, but so does also the present value of technical provisions, the main liability in their balance sheet. at the end of june, italian insurers'average solve

mario draghi : restoring confidence with more transparency interview by mr mario draghi, governor of the bank of italy, with the wall street journal, at the world economic forum, davos, 2 february 2009. * * * wsj : are there any signs markets are stabilizing or improving and if so, how much should we read into it? mr. draghi : there are markets that have started to function again, though at a reduced level. spreads on the interbank market have narrowed considerably, and the corporate - bond market has shown signs of being alive. there has been a flurry of new issuances in the first few weeks of january. we will get little bits of good news and we can enjoy them. but we shouldn't make too much out of it. wsj : what is the priority for regulators at the moment? mr. draghi : credit circuits have been clogged now for more than a year. the very first thing to do is restore confidence in the banking sector, because it's clear that until that is done there will be no significant flow of private capital to the banking sector. wsj : how do you restore that confidence when the market has become so skeptical and skittish? mr. draghi : the only thing we can do to help restart the market is to tell the world that there are certain kinds of real products that are simple to understand, easy to price and satisfy certain legal conditions. wsj : how do you do that beyond emergency measures and into the medium and long term? mr. draghi : there needs to be significant progress in developing greater transparency so we can understand what's on banks'balance sheets and what valuations are. wsj : more specifically? mr. draghi : in the future, there is going to be an unavoidable move toward standardization. with standardization, regardless of whether you have regulation, you will have a powerful push toward transparency, because people would understand and price products with full knowledge of them. it is also of primary importance that we create a centralized clearing and settlement process. wsj : aren't you afraid that the push for more regulation will put a brake on financial innovation? mr. draghi : we want to create a system which doesn't destroy the prospectives of the banking industry. standardization may well hamper growth of financial innovation, but this growth will be more sustainable through time. wsj :