anita angelovska bezhoska : opening address - fifth meeting of the regional working group for financial education of southeastern europe opening address by ms anita angelovska bezhoska, governor of the national bank of the republic of north macedonia, at the fifth meeting of the regional working group for financial education of southeastern europe, skopje, 27 september 2019. * * * distinguished representatives of the central banks, dear representatives of international institutions, dear guests, ladies and gentleman, it is my great pleasure to give the opening address at the fifth meeting of the regional working group for financial education of southeastern europe, hosted by our national bank. i am more than certain that joint fora, such as this one, are important venue for raising our awareness and knowledge on matters of mutual interest. and, there is no dilemma that financial education, as a spotlight of this working group, is an issue of mutual interest gaining prominence and importance among all stakeholders – central banks, regulators, financial services providers, consumers. we are all faced with rapidly evolving financial landscape, in which being knowledgeable means being capable of reaping the benefits and mitigating risks. now allow me to shed some light on a couple of important dimensions such as relevance of the financial literacy and the benefits it brings to the society, the specific circumstances that brought this issue to the fore in the last decade, the role played by the central banks in this segment, the current state and the challenges ahead for the region and our country. why does financial literacy matter? it is more than clear that the absence of understanding of the basic financial concepts erodes our capability to make proper and well - informed choices in terms of savings, investment, and borrowing. the costs of these choices are not confined only to individuals, but they can have systemic implications, eroding the overall financial stability. the translation of these misinformed decisions into systemic risks is exactly one of the main reasons why financial literacy became the mainstream in the past decade. the pre - crisis credit boom was supported by irrational exuberance and overconfidence of “ never ending ” rise in assets prices and low financing costs. the credit boom turned into credit bust, and the consequences of the “ bubble – burst ” are still with us. according to the latest imf map of weak spots, heavily indebted households are still the main source of vulnerability in many systemically important advanced and emerging economies, and potential source of next financial crisis. apparently, being financially literate

joint session of the fifth committees of the chamber of deputies ( budget, treasury and planning ) and of the senate of the republic ( economic planning and budget ) preliminary hearing on the update to the 2018 economic and financial document testimony of the deputy governor of the bank of italy luigi federico signorini chamber of deputies rome, 9 october 2018 mr president, honourable members of parliament, i wish to thank the fifth committees of the chamber of deputies and of the italian senate for once again giving the bank of italy this opportunity to provide its technical assessment as part of the consultations on the update to the economic and financial document. the macroeconomic outlook following the severe crisis of 2008 - 13, the italian economy has been recovering for the past five years. last year gdp growth came to 1. 6 per cent, with contributions from all the components of demand, domestic and foreign. in 2018, notwithstanding the overall solidity of domestic demand, the pace of growth gradually moderated, affected above all by the slowdown in world trade. sales outside the eu nonetheless turned upwards again in august. fears of a further spike in trade tensions appear to have dented the confidence of firms at international level and risk affecting economic activity even beyond the direct impact on trade of the protectionist measures implemented to date. the situation remains uncertain ; the italian economy is very open to foreign trade and is therefore exposed to the related risks. according to the latest data released by istat, industrial production fell sharply in july. in recent times the statistical variability of the index has intensified and it is therefore important not to overestimate the meaning of any one reading. based on our estimates, which draw on updated data on energy consumption and goods flows, in august and september there appears to have been a recovery. it is nonetheless still likely that production in the third quarter will stagnate overall. what happens in the fourth quarter, which has just begun, will mark the point of departure for the level of industrial production growth achieved in 2019. the index based on the assessments of purchasing managers in industrial sector firms also fell during the summer months. the latest cyclical indications are instead more favourable in the service sector. according to our quarterly survey conducted in september, firms continue to expect investment to increase in 2018, albeit to a lesser extent than was expected six months ago. labour market data continue to be positive. the number of persons in employment in august was up by 300, 000 compared with the end of last year, reflecting above all the increase in fixed