I would like to open this plenary in a manner that I hope may set the tone for the next two days and indeed provide a direction of sorts for the work that is to come over the coming months and years for this financial intelligence community.
Such an increase in the term spread would, however, not convey unambiguous information. Higher long-term rates could also reflect expectations of higher future inflation or a change in risk premia. Additional information from asset and money markets may therefore be necessary to interpret market expectations in this regard.