create positive spillovers. innovative digital financial services can contribute to well - functioning financial markets. fintech firms and innovations such as crowd - funding and distributed - ledger technologies are at the center of this debate. fintechs can facilitate access to financial services. these innovations can foster competition, lower transaction costs, and improve risk sharing – thus promoting innovation and growth. but financial innovations might also affect systemic risks. they might induce procyclical behavior. risks posed by cyber - crime need to be monitored closely and, where necessary, addressed. this is to say that digital innovations should not undermine secure, transparent, and stable financial markets. 5. conclusion there is no lack of short - and long - term challenges facing europe and the world. under the german g20 presidency, we will be addressing two important issues : resilience and digitization. strong real economies are the basis for resilience. economic growth is therefore not an end in itself. strong growth is rather the basis for inclusive growth, as it opens up space for redistributional policies. strong growth is also built on innovation, which can contribute to sustainable growth. robust financial markets are the second pillar of resilience. as we are completing the reform agenda, we are gradually moving from policy implementation to ( ex post ) impact assessments. we need impact assessments to demonstrate the long - term benefits of the reforms – benefits in terms of financing innovation, growth, and the allocation of risk in the economy. we need to look at the effectiveness of individual reforms, the interaction between reforms, and their aggregate 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches affect. at the global level, maintaining a dialogue on economic policy is crucial. the g20 as well as the g7 are fora that play an important part in addressing the above challenges. they allow countries to learn from best practice across countries and to develop their policy framework. the member countries have diverse experience with regard to stability issues and national policy discussions. every financial crisis may be different, but core elements and mechanisms repeat themselves. therefore, by sharing experiences, policymakers can collectively learn from each other and improve their policy responses. 6. references balli, f., kalemli - ozcan, s. and b. e. sørensen ( 2012 ). risk sharing through capital gains. canadian journal of economics 45 ( 2 ), 472 – 492. bonfiglioli, a. ( 2008 ). financial integration, productivity and capital accumulation. journal

economists can provide. and they also extend far beyond the policies that central banks have at their disposal. let me therefore focus on the two main topics that germany has made its priority under its g20 presidency, which began this month. these topics address two key challenges for global and, in particular, european policymakers : resilience and digitization. the g20 or “ group of twenty ” is an international forum for governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies. it was founded in 1999 with the aim of studying, reviewing, and promoting high - level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. the g20 presidency rotates among the g20 member countries – germany ’ s presidency follows that of china and will be followed by argentina. while each presidency has its own key projects, continuity is key in the g20 process. with its focus on resilience, the german g20 presidency builds on previous work on structural reforms and growth - promoting policies. 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches 2. strong real economies are the basis of resilience more resilient economies are less prone to severe downturns, rebound faster from negative shocks, and adapt more easily to structural changes. the ability of the private and public sector to absorb shocks is therefore an important factor affecting resilience. high levels of debt constrain this ability, in particular if low productivity growth weakens the ability to service outstanding levels of debt. a stable financial system and a resilient real economy are two sides of the same coin. yet productivity growth has declined over time in many countries. in the euro area, for instance, labor productivity is currently growing at a rate of 0. 4 %. 2 it lags behind the growth rates of the us and other advanced economies. the gap in productivity growth between europe and the us has been widening since the mid - 1990s. empirically, it is difficult to attribute differences in productivity growth across countries and regions to specific factors. factors such as institutions, demographic trends, or the macroeconomic environment interact and are difficult to isolate. regional differences in productivity within countries can also be very persistent. and here i am not referring to regional differences within italy. instead, what i have in mind are differences between eastern and western germany. the former east german states have developed very differently than the west german states since german reunification. after the wall came down and markets were opened up, there was a rapid convergence process. over the first ten years