I call on all parties to continue the discussions but more importantly to move from talking to doing. In order to help this situation as well as the economy, at the CBC we also initiated a project to digitise the banking sector's client onboarding process as well as the exchange of customer information between banks. Let me be clear: this is not the responsibility or remit of the central bank. However, I decided for this to happen in order to push this technological change in the banking sector. We set this project as a priority and obtained the commitment of Cyprus banks to embrace and participate in the project. We are now at an advanced stage of formulating the technical and legal requirements for the project. The project, as envisioned by the CBC, will be a flexible and scalable solution to be implemented in phases. Phase one, will be the remote digital onboarding of new customers through a seamless digitalised process and an optimised customer on-boarding experience, thereafter expediting the remote updating of customer data and information. Digitalisation of the onboarding process will initially focus on Cyprus citizens, allowing for expansion to include EU and non-EU citizens as well as legal entities and, to the extent possible, similar structures. In other words it will learn to walk before it will run. Phase two will roll out an interoperability solution with utility service providers and governmental services, allowing for possible incorporation of electronic IDs as provided for in the European Regulation.
All-items HICP reached 7,5 per cent in March from 5,9 per cent in February. The rising inflation, is increasing the production costs of firms and is eroding disposable income. The war has heightened the uncertainty of future price developments and the pace with which supply bottlenecks will recede. In parallel, new pandemic restrictive measures in China, for example the closing of the city of Shanghai and its port, which is considered the busiest port in the world, also accentuate supply chain difficulties. Energy prices, which were driven even higher after the outbreak of the war, now stand 45 per cent above their level one year ago and continue to constitute the main reason for the high level of inflation. Overall, inflation pressures are projected to remain strong in the shortterm undermining business and consumer confidence. The main challenge for monetary policy now is to control inflation without jeopardising economic recovery. This requires careful attention of all these elevated uncertainties and their implications on the evolving economic outlook. The complication is that the inflation pressures result mainly from the supply side shocks which cannot be remedied via monetary policy. Higher interest rates will neither restore supply chains nor reduce energy prices. For this reason, at the ECB Governing Council, we have already began adjusting certain monetary policy instruments such as the Pandemic Emergency Purchasing Programme and the Asset Purchasing Programme, reducing significantly the bonds bought by the national central banks of the euro area members states. In other words monetary tightening has already begun.