the proper price signals don't reach the end - users and thereby impede an efficient choice of payment instrument. so if we want to speed up development in payment services, we need to increase competition in the market and reduce the disincentives. based on our past finnish experiences in major payment innovations, i predict that the implementation and penetration of mobile payments among the general public will take its time following the introduction of a general and user - friendly mobile payment solution. our payment habits are deeply rooted. merchants need time to adapt their systems. banks want to be assured that the business model of the new payment instrument is a sufficiently rewarding opportunity for them. here too we face the traditional chicken - and - egg situation. still, i am convinced that recent developments in ict in general and in mobile technology in particular have provided a solid platform for building a new generation of payment technology. my forecast is that the convenience and efficiency of mobile payments will have general appeal among advanced users of mobile phones.

mr backstrom gives his perspective on sweden ’ s economy and looks at factors that contribute to long - term growth speech by mr urban backstrom, governor of the sveriges riksbank and chairman of the board of directors and president of the bank for international settlements, given at the university of gothenburg on 27 october 1999. * * * a current topic, in the united states and elsewhere, is whether structural changes have made it possible to achieve stronger economic growth than before without generating inflationary tendencies. the term – a new economy – has been coined for this phenomenon. the us economy ’ s new, improved performance is sometimes said to be due in part to the rapid advances in computer technology and telecommunications. internet is a part of this. progress in these fields has led to better and more efficient processes for production and distribution. this in turn has paved the way for stronger competition, higher productivity growth and thereby lower inflation. consumers, moreover, are better informed than they used to be. productivity growth in the united states does seem to have risen. the imf, to mention one observer, considers that the potential growth rate – the annual growth that can be achieved without boosting inflation – has moved up from 2. 25 % to 2. 75 %. an even higher potential rate has been estimated by others. in sweden, too, most things suggest that labour productivity has risen somewhat faster in the present decade than it did in the 1980s. the shift may be in the order of one - half of a percentage point. this is the change that lies behind the common, but not entirely certain, estimate that nowadays the swedish economy can maintain an annual growth rate between 2 % and 2. 5 %. but swedish data do not yet provide any definite evidence of an improvement in productivity, and hence in potential growth, that corresponds to what has happened in america. it does seem likely, however, that the rapid advances in information technology will also have a major impact on future production and distribution processes in sweden. sweden is well to the fore in internet applications. still, when and to what extent these factors will affect growth in general is not yet clear. but even though appreciable general economic consequences cannot be discerned at present, the tendencies are worth considering. some parallels can perhaps be drawn with the situation over a century ago, when sweden was being transformed fairly rapidly from a poor european country into a dynamic and strongly expanding industrialised economy. there are also lessons to be learned from developments in recent