*** There is no shortage of challenges as a central banker in the current environment, with domestic and global inflation too high and persistent, and the recent fragilities exposed by bank failures in the United States and Europe. Today I'll touch briefly on these topics, with a particular focus on financial inclusion and the impacts on different parts of our society.
A retreat from openness will only fuel more inequality as import prices rise, goods become dearer and real incomes fall. It would deprive people of the undisputed economic advantages that trade and integration bring and thereby exacerbate economic hardship for the poorest in society. And it would breed distrust among nations, making for a more unstable international order.