One advantage put forward on the basis of this is that a nominal growth target can provide a desirable adjustment even to more long-term  29 See Cecchetti and Schoenholtz (2017). For a more detailed review of different types of criticism, see Yellen (2015) (footnote 14) and Bernanke (2017b). 30 Summers (2018). However, it is interesting to note that one of Summers’ arguments in favour of a target for nominal GDP growth (of 5-6 per cent) is that it: ”would attenuate the issues around explicitly announcing a higher inflation target, which I think are a little problematic on political economy grounds”. Examples of other advocates are Scott Sumner and Jeffrey Frankel (see, for instance, Sumner, 2011 and Frankel, 2012). Another variation on this is that the target should instead concern the level of nominal GDP. For a discussion of this and other target definitions that I do not take up here, see Andersson and Claussen (2017). 31 Inflation is in this case measured according to the so-called GDP deflator. 14 [24]  changes in the economy. If, for example, the growth potential declines, it is probable that the neutral real interest rate will fall. But the lower growth potential means that with a nominal growth target one also has a higher implicit inflation target, which in turn should make it easier to attain a negative real interest rate and an expansionary monetary policy in situations when this is needed. The effect would thus be similar to the increase in the inflation target I talked about earlier.

The newest and possibly most promising area of growth is sustainable finance where we aspire to support Asia’s transition to a low carbon economy. The task of reducing emissions is urgent, as pointed out by the most recent report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. All sectors of the economy need to achieve progressive and deep emission reductions. Some $ trillion in infrastructure investments will be needed over the next decade to enable Southeast Asia’s transition towards sustainability [3] . In Singapore, we are developing strategies to build a comprehensive ecosystem for green and transition financing. We are aligning financing efforts with credible sectoral transition plans, that provide clarity about transition pathways and carbon emission targets. This in turn generates investor confidence and catalyses greater sustainable finance flows. We are promoting blended finance solutions, where targeted risk sharing by governments or multilateral development banks can crowd in private capital more effectively. We are stepping up efforts to enhance collection of emissions data, develop credible transition taxonomies, and implement consistent climate-related reporting and disclosure standards. One key initiative which MAS has embarked on with the industry is Project Greenprint, which comprises common utility platforms. These platforms will harness technology to address the financial sector’s sustainability data needs, and enable a more transparent, trusted and efficient ESG ecosystem that can catalyse green and sustainable finance. One of the most encouraging aspects of the strong growth of the financial sector is the number of good jobs that are being created.