The third imperative is strengthening connectivity for greater innovation and impact. I see opportunities for this in three areas. The first relates to the halal sector, and the role that the Islamic finance industry can play in supporting its growth and expansion. While the percentage of halal-certified companies utilising Islamic finance facilities has been on a rapid uptick – nearly doubling from 21.9% in 2018 to 41.3% in 2021 – more can be done, especially to facilitate connectivity across halal value chains. The industry should continue to explore new sources of funds based on the concept of risk sharing and develop more impact-based funding, investment and trade facilities that can drive improvements in productivity and efficiency of halal companies. Technology can also be leveraged to embed financial services into the halal ecosystem,  3/4  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  where Islamic finance solutions are seamlessly integrated into the offering of halal products or services. Apart from being more efficient and frictionless, it can also offer a more complete proposition to businesses and consumers The second is on community-based connectivity. Here, the integration of social finance within the core offerings of Islamic financial institutions can be a game-changer. In an environment of high household leverage, taking on more debt-based borrowing may not be the best solution for micro-businesses and low-income segments. Therefore, deploying blended capital – using social impact investment, donation, waqf and zakat – enables funding to be more accessible and responsibly used to support entrepreneurship for innovation.
—POLICY REVIEW Radev, was circumspect regarding recent calls for a review of the ECB’s monetary policy strategy. He also expressed caution in response to suggestions the institution should lower its mandated medium-term inflation rate target from close to but below 2% to around 1%. "There may be reasons to start thinking if an overhaul needs to be considered,” he said. But he added: “Whatever, if anything, the ECB decides in this regard should be shaped into a carefully communicated process. I cannot but fully agree with a recent comment by Peter Praet who warned that such public announcements may be misread and, furthermore, interpreted as the ECB admitting to having failed on its mandate, which is not the case." The ECB has “plenty of instruments” at its disposal in the event of a severe economic downturn, he said, adding: “The door is not closed to asset purchases, and there is no rule-set limitation on moving rates such as those on the standing facilities or the regular open market operations. "We know there may be varying degrees of support within the Governing Council for certain especially non-standard measures, if those are to be considered. Hence it is also true that the effectiveness of any firepower of the ECB ultimately depends on its determination and leadership rather than variety or size of the tools."