General Manager's speech: Global realignment and policy rebalancing

Speech and presentation of the key messages of the BIS Annual Report delivered by Mr Jaime Caruana, General Manager of the BIS, on the occasion of the Bank's Annual General Meeting, Basel, 26 June 2016.

Drawing on the Annual Report, the speech discusses the realignment taking place in the global economy and the required rebalancing of policies. The large exchange rate and commodity price movements that had played out even before the recent market disturbances can only be fully understood by considering long-term trends in the global economy. Rising debt, lower productivity growth and diminishing room for policy manoeuvre have contributed to a build-up of vulnerabilities that give rise to three threats: macroeconomic instability; the adverse effects of persistently low interest rates; and a loss of confidence in policymaking. Countering these threats requires that prudential, fiscal and structural policies take on a more prominent role. More realism and clarity about what central banks can and cannot achieve would facilitate the rebalancing. Recent shocks make this task more complex, but also more necessary.