In Europe, the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the complex situation in Italy has taken on greater force. Finally, although we believe that the drop in the oil price responds primarily to supply-side factors—which reduces short-term inflationary pressures—it remains to be established to what extent this could be reflecting more permanent demand-side factors. Recent months have seen a substantial adjustment in financial asset prices in the developed world that could be signaling a change in risk premiums, consistent with a scenario of uncertainty that has prevailed for quite some time. On the domestic front, we estimate that risks for activity are unbiased. The economy has decelerated with respect to early in the year, which had been long expected. However, this deceleration could be more persistent if consumption fails to recover its expected dynamism. Meanwhile, the rebound of investment could be stronger as other large-scale projects progress. As for inflation, we estimate that risks are unbiased. Various indicators suggest that the economy will further consolidate the process of closing the capacity gaps, while others show the reaction of the more sensitive CPI components. Thus, expectations two years out are aligned with the policy target. It should be noted that this new Monetary Policy Report features greater insight of the implications of risk scenarios for monetary policy. This will allow having a better appreciation of the Central Bank’s reaction to deviations from the baseline scenario.
There is no option for financial institutions but to be able to deliver and ensure the integrity of their services – banking, payments, insurance or takaful, in dealing with customers – digitally or online during these times. The road is thus wide open for fintech. In a not so distant future, we can expect that fintech will be part of the mainstream, perhaps even becoming the primary mode of delivery for financial services, no longer requiring strategising and planning on how we could fully embrace it in conferences and dialogues like we will be doing today. Before I conclude I would like to congratulate ISRA for their development of the I-FIKR App, which 2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  will be launched during the event. The App certainly fits well with the digitalisation of the Islamic finance knowledge of the Islamic finance industry. We hope to see it as another home-grown product that will contribute further toward the advancement of the Islamic finance Industry. Finally, once again I would like to thank and commend ISRA for organising the Islamic Fintech Dialogue 2020. Events such as this provide us an opportunity to take a step away, allowing us the space to focus on key issues and challenges which I hope will inspire us to improve on our vision and strategies for innovative transformation in Islamic finance. Over the course of this 2day event, with the array of speakers and moderators, I am confident this will be achieved.