Excluding charitable donations, operating expense fell by a total of around 4 per cent owing to the decrease in staff costs, mainly due to the decline in severance payments during the year, and in costs associated with the physical presence of staff in the workplace such as, for example, business trips and utilities.
4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  The foregoing argument reaffirms the importance of the flexibility of the social and economic systems that can ensure their own sustainability in the face of a demographic vortex. We could also bear in mind how the ageing of voters affects the social choices reflecting their preferences (Slide 9).