3 / 15  BIS central bankers' speeches  On the domestic front, cost pressures from the labour market are expected to ease as firms pause their hiring plans and retrenchments rise. The property market has remained stable, thanks in part to the macroprudential measures in place and new temporary relief measures in response to COVID-19. The property cooling measures — progressively implemented over the last 10 years — have helped to temper price increases and bring prices more in line with underlying economic fundamentals. The stabilisation of the property market has substantially reduced its vulnerability to the COVID-19 shock. If property prices had been rising rapidly as we entered the COVID-19 crisis, we could have seen a sharp and painful correction. As it has turned out, the adjustment of the property market has been modest. Property prices have moderated in an orderly manner in recent months. At this point, there is no need to adjust the existing cooling measures. Instead, to help promote market stability, the government has provided temporary relief measures for buyers and property developers by extending regulatory and tax deadlines. These reliefs do not alter the existing cooling measures. MAS, together with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of National Development and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, will continue to watch the market closely to ensure that prices for private residential properties remain broadly in line with economic fundamentals. GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 ECONOMIC CRISIS Fiscal policy has been the centrepiece of the government’s support for the economy.

22  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/default.aspx  22  References Aghion, P and Howitt, P (1998), ’Endogenous growth theory’, MIT Press Andrews, D, Criscuolo, C and Gal, P (2015), ‘Frontier Firms, Technology Diffusion and Public Policy’, OECD Productivity Working Paper, available at: http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/frontier-firms-technology-diffusion-and-public-policy_5jrql2q2jj7b-en Barnett, A, Batten, S, Chiu, A, Franklin, J and Sebastia-Barriel, M ‘The UK productivity puzzle’, Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin 2014Q2, available at: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/quarterlybulletin/2014/qb14q201.pdf Broadbent, B (2016), ‘The distributional implications of low structural interest rates and some remarks about monetary policy trade-offs’, Speech given at the Society of Business Economists Annual Conference, available at: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/2016/940.aspx CBI (2016), ‘Unlocking regional growth: Understanding the drivers of productivity across the UK's regions and nations’, available at: http://www.cbi.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/unlocking-regional-growth/ Clark, G (2016), ‘The importance of Industrial Strategy’, Speech given at the Institute of Directors annual conference 2016, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-importance-of-industrial-strategy Draghi, M (2016), ‘Stability, equity and monetary policy, Speech given at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), available at: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2016/html/sp161025.en.html Eurostat (2016), ‘Regional Yearbook 2016’, available here: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/regions/overview Haldane, A (2015), ‘Growing fast and slow’, Speech given at the University of East Anglia, available at: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/2015/797.aspx Haldane, A (2016), ‘Whose recovery?’, Speech given Port Talbot, Wales, available at: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/2016/916.aspx Hills, S, Thomas, R and Dimsdale, N (2016), ‘Three Centuries of Data - Version 23’, available here: http://wwwbankofenglandcouk/research/Pages/onebank/threecenturiesaspx HMT (2016), ‘Autumn statement 2016’, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/autumn-statement-2016 House of Commons (2016), ‘Industrial Strategy’, House of Commons Briefing Paper, available at: http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7682#fullreport IMF (2015), ‘The New Normal: A Sector-Level Perspective on Productivity Trends in Advanced Economies’, available at: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2015/sdn1503.pdf Institute for Public Policy Research (2016), ‘An industrial strategy that works for the UK: Framework and principles’, available at: http://www.ippr.org/publications/an-industrial-strategy-that-works-for-the-uk-framework-and-principles Krugman, P (1994), ‘The Age of Diminishing Expectations’, MIT Press May, T (2016), ‘CBI annual conference 2016: Prime Minister's speech’, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/cbi-annual-conference-2016-prime-ministers-speech  23  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/default.aspx  23  Mayfield, C (2016), ‘How good is your business really?