gabriel makhlouf : publication of the financial stability review 2024 : 2 opening remarks by mr gabriel makhlouf, governor of the central bank of ireland, on the publication of the financial stability review 2024 : 2, dublin, 4 december 2024. * * * welcome to the central bank for the publication of our second financial stability review of 2024. since the last review in june, we have seen a turn in the global interest rate cycle, with many central banks being able to start reducing interest rates. this change of stance largely reflects progress in reducing inflation, and increased confidence that inflation will reach its target levels in a sustainable manner in many countries. the fact that this level of disinflation has been achieved without significant instability speaks to the continued resilience of the global financial system. however, while inflationary risks may have receded, risks to the growth outlook have come to the fore. economic growth has been stable, but some forward - looking indicators of activity have weakened, particularly in europe, and there are diverging forecasts across regions. the key risks centre around uncertainty and rising geopolitical tensions, which raise the prospect of lower trade and gdp growth. a protectionist and fragmented world has negative implications for economic activity domestically and internationally, as well as for the resilience of households, firms and the financial sector. and with debt - to - gdp levels in many countries increasing recently, weak growth raises concerns over the ability of governments to support the economy in the event of a shock. financial markets have experienced periods of volatility since the last review, albeit these have been short - lived. this highlights underlying fragility in market sentiment, and the potential for market disruption if expectations change quickly or if there are further escalations in the geopolitical environment. compressed risk pricing in corporate debt markets and stretched equity valuations in some sectors leaves markets open to a swift repricing. as we have been warning for a number of years now, high levels of leverage in certain parts of the non - bank sector, and increasing interconnectedness between nonbanks and global banks, could amplify any shock to financial markets. turning to commercial real estate ( cre ), global and irish markets continue to adjust, and prices are showing some signs of stabilisation. however, there is still uncertainty over the full scale of the downturn in these markets. and in ireland, vacancy rates in the dublin office market remain high and

part of this century. finally, we continue to develop the macroprudential framework for non - banks with two macroprudential measures relating to cohorts of investment funds already announced. we are monitoring the phased implementation of limits on leverage for irish property funds. and our measures on irish - authorised gbp sterling liability driven investment ( ldi ) funds, announced earlier this year, safeguard resilience against shocks to uk interest rates. we continue to support the development of an overarching macroprudential framework for investment funds working with our international partners in this area. we recently published our response ( pdf 699. 99kb ) to the european commission's targeted consultation on macroprudential policies for nbfi, in addition to contributing to a eurosystem response ( pdf 714. 35kb ). thank you for joining us today. i will hand you over to director of financial stability mark cassidy to take us through the report, before taking questions. 2 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches