At 40 percent of world GDP, the world’s net international investment position—the sum of net creditor and net debtor positions—is now at a historical peak and four times larger than in the early 1990s. Among the top debtors, the net international investment position of the United States is now close to –50 percent of GDP, down about 40 percentage points since 2007. Chart 4 Net International Investment Position (NIIP), 1990-20184 (Percent of world GDP)  Source: IMF, External sector report, 2019  The snapshot of the global external profile reveals narrowing of the imbalances after the global crisis, and concentration in the advanced economies. Despite the lower magnitude, large part of the current account imbalance seems not to be aligned with the fundamental and desirable policies. Furthermore, lower flow gaps, visible through 4 Chart extracted from the IMF External Sector Report, 2019. 6  lower current account and financial flows, were not sufficient to curb stock imbalance visible through the historically highest global NIP. Given the uncertain global environment, driven by the rising trade tensions, external flow and stock imbalances could widen again, although this will much depend on the assumed policy response in different countries. Further disruptions to trade and supply chains are one of the major risks that can affect the external imbalances, as well. Higher tariffs on bilateral trade can come at significant economic cost, not only for the countries involved, but also for others.
It is also important to alleviate technical and operational barriers which make it too costly for participants to connect. We have streamlined our regular testing procedures and adapted our rulebooks to take account of changing technology while maintaining high standards and safeguards. For example, it is now possible to join CHAPS (the UK high value payment service) using cloud infrastructure. Evolution of our public infrastructure It is one thing to enable access, it is also essential to provide the functionality that attracts users. New functionality can enable the industry to innovate, utilise central bank money in new ways and build new services for their customers. Continuing the road analogy, high-speed motorways had to replace country roads to allow more goods to be shipped and people to connect more quickly and over longer distances. 3/6  BIS central bankers' speeches  I want to bring this to life by outlining the Bank’s current programme to modernise our core payments infrastructure. In 2017, the Bank announced an ambitious vision7, created in close collaboration with industry, to renew the RTGS service. The Blueprint outlined a wide range of proposals intended to provide higher resilience, broader access, wider interoperability, and improved user functionality. In just over a year we will be realising the first key element of that vision: the implementation of enhanced ISO20022 messaging standards8. In April 2023 CHAPS will move to the common international language for payments. Richer and more harmonised data can allow merchants to match payments to invoices and brokers to reconcile trades.