Our monetary policy measures continue to underpin domestic demand. Private consumption is fostered by ongoing employment growth and rising wages. At the same time, business investment is supported by solid domestic demand, favourable financing conditions and corporate profitability. Housing investment remains robust. In addition, the expansion in global activity is expected to continue supporting euro area exports, though at a slower pace. The risks surrounding the euro area growth outlook can still be assessed as broadly balanced. At the same time, risks relating to protectionism, vulnerabilities in emerging markets and financial market volatility remain prominent. 1/2  BIS central bankers' speeches  Euro area annual HICP inflation increased to 2.1% in September 2018, from 2.0% in August, reflecting mainly higher energy and food price inflation. On the basis of current futures prices for oil, annual rates of headline inflation are likely to hover around the current level over the coming months. While measures of underlying inflation remain generally muted, they have been increasing from earlier lows. Domestic cost pressures are strengthening and broadening amid high levels of capacity utilisation and tightening labour markets. Looking ahead, underlying inflation is expected to pick up towards the end of the year and to increase further over the medium term, supported by our monetary policy measures, the ongoing economic expansion and rising wage growth. Turning to the monetary analysis, broad money (M3) growth stood at 3.5% in September 2018, after 3.4% in August. Apart from some volatility in monthly flows, M3 growth is increasingly supported by bank credit creation.

The purpose of the HKMA intraday liquidity facility is to promote more efficient RMB payment flows between banks; and  (b)  The HKMA will also designate a number of banks active in the CNH market as Primary Liquidity Providers (PLPs). Banks that are designated as PLPs are committed to using and developing Hong Kong as the global platform for supporting their offshore RMB businesses. They are also committed to expanding their market-making activities in CNH market. In return, the HKMA will offer a repo line to each of the PLPs so as to facilitate more efficient liquidity management when they carry out market-making and other business activities in the CNH market. This bilateral repo line can be used by the PLPs as intraday or overnight liquidity management purposes. The HKMA is now finalising the list of PLPs and the necessary documentation. We hope to be able to announce the list of PLPs very shortly. Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude by saying that the competitive edge of a successful financial centre depends crucially on its soft powers, not just on hard infrastructure. Hong Kong is uniquely well positioned to take advantage and play a pivotal role in the new era of China’s growth story and in the internationalisation of RMB. Hong Kong enjoys both first-mover advantages as well as many irreplaceable structural advantages, given Hong Kong’s very close links with the Mainland in trade, investment and finance under the “One Country, Two Systems” principle. However, there is absolutely no room for complacency.