##a, 2017. final thoughts i will briefly summarize. low rates, and most particularly negative rates, can have an adverse impact on bank profitability and, in consequence, on financial stability. such an impact will be stronger the longer the period of low or negative rates. however, today ’ s very low – even negative – rates have been and are still absolutely necessary to avoid that inflation settles at too low levels, which would mean permanently low rates and even larger challenges for the economy, including the banking sector. let me share three final thoughts. first, the experience of the past years highlights the importance of banks ’ resilience, so they can withstand a transitory period of very low rates. this underlines the necessity of prudential – including macroprudential – policies to strengthen the banking sector. there has been progress on this : the prudential framework has been revised and extended significantly since the crisis. while adapting to it has been a challenging task for banks, its completion should kick - start a period of regulatory stability. second, even when we deliver on our mandate and bring inflation back towards 2 %, the real 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches component in nominal interest rates might not recover to pre - crisis levels. beyond cyclical factors, the low level of real rates is also due to structural drivers, such as demographic developments or slower potential growth. these factors are beyond the reach of monetary policy. that might mean that interest rates could settle at lower levels than before the crisis, and that episodes of very low rates – for instance during recessions – may become more frequent. that makes my previous recommendation even more important. in order to increase real returns again, other policymakers should do their job by pursuing structural reforms to boost economic growth. finally, while the current period of low rates can put pressure on banks ’ profits, other, more structural factors, may also play a role. banks, especially in europe, are still facing a number of considerable challenges going forward, which will remain after the ‘ normalisation ’ of monetary policy. these challenges include still elevated cost structures, the emergence and growing role of fintech competitors, it and cybersecurity risks, and evidence of overcapacity in the european banking sector, to name but a few examples. to continue playing their important role in our economy, banks must still continue to adapt to the new environment. thank you for your attention. 5 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches

1. household access to consumer credit and mortgage loans consumer credit consumer credit market in belgium : diversified and meets households ’ needs, but financially vulnerable borrowers require consideration regulation has impact on access to finance for certain household categories changing environment leads to new challenges in regulation mortgage loans increasing mortgage debt at be and eu level risk pockets : households with high debt ratios or small savings buffers challenge for central bank : combining prudential measures that ensure financial system stability with access to finance for households accis conference hosted by the nbb – 14 june 2022 2. household access to consumer credit and mortgage loans introduction good morning, ladies and gentlemen. good morning, enrique. let me start by saying that it ’ s an honour for the national bank of belgium to host this year ’ s accis conference. and it ’ s with great pleasure that i accepted enrique ’ s invitation to welcome you with a few words. as you know, the nature of our credit register is rather different from most other accis members. belgium has a public register, regulated by specific legislation and managed by the national bank. and while it ’ s not a core business of a central bank, we strongly believe in the advantages of this structure. not only because preventing over - indebtedness is a matter of general interest, but also because credit data are useful in our mission as a prudential supervisor and for different economic studies that we carry out. and the topic of my opening speech, household access to consumer credit and mortgage loans, is a perfect example of this fruitful cooperation between our departments, because it ’ s partially based on data from our credit register. consumer credit 2. 1 consumer credit market in belgium - vulnerabilities now, enrique has only allowed me 10 minutes, so let me begin immediately by presenting you with the most important conclusions of a recent study that we did on the consumer credit market in belgium. to give you an idea of the market size : it totalled 5, 1 million loans representing an outstanding amount of 21 billion euro at the end of 2021, and more than half of the adult population has at least one consumer credit. our study showed that the belgian market for consumer loans is generally mature and diversified. there are several categories of lenders and the credit they offer, meets various household financing needs. the majority of the loans are also provided at interest rates well below the legal maximum. however, we identified two market segments where that ’ s less the case and which thus need specific attention in