exclusively taken by individual borrowers. these loans account for around 10 % of total loans to households, and individuals with chf - denominated loans ( 75, 412 ) account for 2. 1 % of the total number of individual borrowers. for comparison, in poland, the number of chf borrowers exceeds 500, 000. the rationale behind the boom in chf lending during 2007 - 2008 is in close connection with the social factors. the chf borrowing costs were lower at the credit agreement date, which ensured easier access to lending for lower income borrowers, as well as larger loans for larger income borrowers. on the other hand, the unfavourable developments in the chf may have a major adverse impact on debtors ’ capacity to repay the loans. a simulation of the instalments of a standard loan in chf, ron and eur respectively, extended in december 2008, shows that : ( i ) at the credit agreement date, the monthly instalments on chf - denominated loans were lower compared with similar monthly instalments on loans granted in ron or eur, and ( ii ) the impact of the change in the exchange rate and / or the interest rate was stronger on chf loans than on those in the other currencies. the number of chf borrowers is on the decline ( by 31. 8 % in november 2014 compared with december 2008, i. e. by around 35, 200 ). the drop is due to loan repayment, loan conversion into another currency, their removal from the balance sheets or their sale. the number of chf borrowers fell at a faster rate compared with the household loan dynamics at aggregate level, the number of debtors moving down 15 % between december 2008 and november 2014. the number of chf loans witnessed a similar development. credit risk associated with chf - denominated loans is relatively higher compared with other currencies. in november 2014, the npl ratio on household loans in chf stood at around 12 % versus 9. 4 % for all foreign currency - denominated loans to households, yet the dynamics were similar to those of foreign currency - denominated loans overall. bis central bankers ’ speeches recent studies also identify heightened risks and correspondingly high costs associated with chf loans to unhedged borrowers at an international level, particularly in non - euro area countries. individuals with chf - denominated loans are not a homogeneous group

mugur isrescu : the most important economic decision nations have ever faced lecture by mr mugur isrescu, governor of the national bank of romania, at the bitcoin versus central bank digital currency conference, bucharest, 6 april 2023. * * * ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon! thank you for attending this conference on the topical issue of cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies. today i have the pleasure of welcoming and introducing our distinguished guest speaker, ms. sundri khalsa, professor at the national intelligence university - known as " the harvard of the intelligence field ", and a us marine corps veteran. welcome, professor khalsa, to romania and to the national bank of romania! sundri khalsa's background also includes being a professor at the united states naval academy, director and instructor of the marine corps military occupational specialty training school, where she trained and certified marine corps signals intelligence and electronic warfare officers. she is an expert with field experience in signal intelligence and information support for integrated military operations. let me add that her studies also include degrees from harvard university, john f. kennedy school, with additional certification in management, leadership and decision sciences, university of virginia ( with specialization in chemistry and biochemistry ) and new mexico military institute ( where she was awarded the science scholar awards in physics and chemistry ). her book " terrorism forecasting : indicators and analytical techniques " is on the cia's reading list and used in university courses. her articles and research cover topics such as mutual support of qualitative and quantitative methods in the field of intelligence or topics related to the debate in the intelligence community about intuition versus structured technique in prediction and decision making in conditions of risk and uncertainty. she is a supporter of structured methods and statistical, cybernetic and mathematical analysis in the development of prediction systems. one final thing about her background, which i am certain many of you will find interesting, is that she is a marine corps black belt mixed martial arts instructor. she has led the marine expeditionary unit training in martial arts and trained over 200 marines and certified 60 to the next higher belt. so all in all, a very impressive background and track record. professor sundri khalsa is visiting the research institute of the university of bucharest. professor marian preda, the rector of the university, wrote me about this visit. he pointed out that, in addition to being a specialist in the development of applications of quantitative and statistical