Latvijas Banka hosts an international economic conference with the participation of European financial sector leaders on its centenary

Latvijas Banka hosts a conference "Sustainability and Money: Shaping the Economy of the Future" on 3 November 2022, in the year marking its centenary. The conference will be held with the distinguished participation of European financial sector leaders like President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde, Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis, Member of the ECB's Governing Council and Governor of Banque de France François Villeroy de Galhau, Member of the ECB's Executive Board Frank Elderson, Member of the ECB's Governing Council and Governor of Latvijas Banka Mārtiņš Kazāks, Governor of Sveriges Riksbank Stefan Ingves and many others. The opening address to the conference will be delivered by President of the Republic of Latvia Egils Levits.

The conference will comprise three panel discussions. The introductory panel "A Bridge over Troubled Waters" will compare the crises of 2008 and 2020, discuss the homework done by the euro area in-between the two crises and Latvia's experience. The discussion with Christine Lagarde and Valdis Dombrovskis, moderated by Mārtiņš Kazāks, will also look at the current and future challenges ahead for the euro area, at how to reconcile fiscal and monetary policy in the current environment and at the required structural reforms. Future trends like the Green Deal and its implications, the role of central banks and the financial sector in addressing climate change will also be discussed.

The next panel discussion "Shadowed by Carbon" will look at the issues of moving towards a truly green economy, changes in society and the contribution of the financial sector to the process. The discussion will be moderated by Deputy Chairperson of the Council of Cēsis Municipality Inese Suija-Markova and the panellists will include François Villeroy de Galhau, Frank Elderson and Professor of Environmental Science at Stanford University and Member of SEB External Sustainability Advisory Board Gretchen C.Daily.

The final panel discussion "Future of Money" will discuss the evolution of cryptocurrencies, decentralised financial services, the role of private companies in fostering technological innovation and the creation of "private money", various types of money and their development. The discussion will be moderated by Deputy Head of Monetary Policy Department of Latvijas Banka Mārtiņš Bitāns and the panellists will include George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics, Professor of Political Science at University of California Barry Eichengreen, Stefan Ingves and Head of EMEA Ready to Pay Partnerships, Google, Florence Diss.

The international conference "Sustainability and Money: Shaping the Economy of the Future" will be held on 3 November 2022 in the National Library of Latvia, at Mūkusalas iela 3, Riga. The conference will begin at 9.30 a.m., whereas registration will start at 8.45 a.m.

Live broadcast of the conference will be available on macroeconomics.lv. Questions to international and Latvian experts can be addressed via sli.do platform, code #LBconference.

Detailed information on the conference as well as its live coverage will be available on Latvijas Banka's website at www.macroeconomics.lv.