The new service will be materially stronger and more resilient in an increasingly complex and sophisticated environment. It will be flexible to protect against the threats we understand today and the ones we will need to adapt to in the future. RTGS Renewal will promote greater access to payment systems. We have already made policy changes to allow non-bank payment service providers direct access to payment systems and RTGS Renewal will reduce 3  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/speeches  3  some of the barriers that we know exist today. It will speed up on-boarding times to the system and reduce the operational overheads of membership. These changes will further accelerate the number and range of firms that can gain direct access to payment systems. Since 2018 five non-bank payment service providers have opened accounts in RTGS and around twenty further firms are exploring the possibility of joining. These firms can benefit from faster transaction times and reduced individual transaction costs. Consequently, the Bank hopes to encourage a greater diversity of players in the payments market, thereby encouraging innovation and competition through development of new business models and ultimately creating a more diverse payments landscape. This will increase efficiency and reduce concentration risk thus supporting financial stability. RTGS Renewal will also promote resilience and efficiency through greater interoperability across payment systems. An important step to achieving this is the introduction of a new payment messaging standard for UK payments: ISO20022, the emerging global standard for payments messaging.
Conclusion When I look back at monetary policy since the current monetary-policy regime, with a floating exchange rate and an inflation target, was introduced at the beginning of 1993, I think that it has on the whole functioned fairly well. One might possibly think that monetary policy was too tight in 1994–1995 when the Riksbank raised the repo rate at the same time as the budget consolidation work was holding back inflation. However, it was important to bring down inflation and inflation expectations to a much lower level than in the 1970s and 1980s. One might also think that the assumption of an unchanged repo rate that was used as a basis for the forecasts during the first years was too simple. On the other hand, one has to see this more as a part of the communication strategy that was being followed then. And it worked. Inflation expectations fell and have been established close to the target. I also think that monetary policy has worked well during the six years, 2006–2011, that I have been a member of the Riksbank’s Executive Board. CPI and CPIF inflation have on average been 1.7 and 1.8 per cent a year respectively. This is somewhat lower than the inflation target. However, given that the world has undergone the deepest recession since the 1930s during this period, it should nevertheless be regarded as a good result.