Friday, October 1, 2021 at 14:00-15:30 Vienna time (CEST) 

Opening
Mr. Robert Holzmann, Governor, Austrian National Bank

Panelists
Ms. Anita Angelovska Bezhoska, Governor, National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia
Mr. Luc Laeven, Director General of Research, European Central Bank
Ms. Yan Liu, Deputy General Counsel, International Monetary Fund
Mr. Harald Waiglein, Director General for Economic Policy, Financial Markets and Customs Duties, Federal Ministry of Finance, Austria

Moderator
Ms. Claire Jones, Global Economy Reporter, FT Alphaville and Editor, Trade Secrets, Financial Times

Coming as a massive shock to the world economy, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an unprecedented policy response. This response has softened the economic impact of the crisis and kept many businesses afloat. With macroeconomic policies already stretched, many observers now call for a more targeted and sustainable approach. Will this policy normalization lead to a wave of corporate bankruptcies, which has so far not materialized? What should be done to avoid the emergence of  zombie firms? What should be the role of financial sector regulation and supervision? Are bankruptcy frameworks robust enough to help winnow unviable from salvageable enterprises? And how are countries in the JVI region dealing with these issues in practice?

Our high-level panel will provide insights on these issues from a range of perspectives.