In opening remarks for the sixth WE_ARE_IN Macroeconomics and Finance Conference in Rome, Bank of Italy Deputy Governor Sergio Nicoletti Altimari emphasized international coordination to address global imbalances, safeguards for financial innovation and clear central bank communication to guide inflation expectations. The remarks assessed challenges facing central banks, including widening external imbalances, technological change and increasingly frequent economic shocks. Reducing global imbalances requires addressing low saving in the United States, weak consumption in China and insufficient investment in Europe. Uncoordinated adjustment could harm global growth and financial stability, while unilateral, generalized trade restrictions increase costs and uncertainty without ensuring lasting solutions. Bank of Italy research indicates that China’s export surge is intensifying competition and strategic dependencies, lowering inflation in the euro area while weakening investment and export performance in third markets. On financial innovation, Nicoletti Altimari reviewed Eurosystem initiatives to preserve the role of central bank money in digital payments and tokenized markets. Pontes has enabled settlement of tokenized financial transactions in central bank money since Sept. 21, while the digital euro and Appia address everyday digital payments and the longer-term development of tokenized markets, respectively. Artificial intelligence could strengthen monitoring and supervision but requires safeguards and effective governance. On monetary policy, incomplete euro area integration and limited common resources risk overburdening central banks as shocks intensify. Because inflation expectations depend on the information people receive and how they process it, clear, consistent communication within a credible policy framework is essential to avoid misperceptions.

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