Ignazio Visco: 2017 World Savings Day

Address by Mr Ignazio Visco, Governor of the Bank of Italy, at the 93rd World Savings Day "What are the prospects for saving?", organized by the Association of Italian Foundations and Savings Banks (ACRI), Rome, 31 October 2017.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

A strengthening economy

After five years of weak growth, world trade is again expanding at a steady pace and global GDP is clearly gaining strength. Despite geopolitical tensions, the outlook is favourable in most economies and financial market conditions are very relaxed, reflecting a reduced perception of risk.

Buoyed above all by expanding domestic demand, GDP growth is picking up in the euro area as well; the risks of deflation have disappeared. Excluding the most volatile components, price increases remain low at just over 1 per cent. This reflects rather modest wage growth in many economies, including Italy, owing to still high levels of underutilized labour.