Yet, according to IMF estimates, the shock intensity would have been three times higher without unprecedented monetary and fiscal policy support, both in terms of speed and scale, preventing a more devastating outcome and long-term scarring to the economies. Given the lessons learned from the global financial crisis, that is recognizing the risk of self-fulfilling cycles, central banks this time responded quickly, providing ultra-accommodative support such as policy rate cuts from already historically low levels, regulatory flexibility to prevent credit crunch and some of them even experimented with non-conventional tools. In this crisis episode, monetary policy was not perceived as "the only game in town" and since the very beginning, it was coupled with unprecedented fiscal stimulus. Average fiscal stimulus in the region amounted around 6% of GDP, which was twice as low as the global fiscal stimulus, but still on a comparable level with middle-income economies. Consequently, the pre-pandemic fiscal consolidation was ceased and the fiscal deficit hit a record high of 7.7% of GDP. Overall, during this crisis episode, policy response in the region was swifter, bolder and better balanced. Looking forward to the policy front, one of the lessons learned from the global financial crisis is that the policy support should not be rollbacked prematurely. Thus, the main challenge is how to provide further support for the recovery stage, but without further creation of vulnerabilities on the other fronts.

Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Electronic payments in Malaysia Speech by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, at the Promotion of Electronic Banking and Payments Launching Ceremony, Electronic Banking: The Way Forward, Kuala Lumpur, 8 May 2003. *  *  *  Bismillahirrahmanirahim Dr. Rozali bin Mohamed Ali Chairman of the Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) Ladies and gentlemen Good morning, It gives me great pleasure to launch the ABM programme to promote electronic payments in Malaysia. This programme is to raise the awareness on the changes in technology and how they are affecting banking and payments in Malaysia. There is enormous potential that technological developments can bring to transform the financial industry in a manner that will bring significant gains to businesses and consumers. The rapid pace of advancement in information technology and communication networking has offered a wide range of delivering channels in retail banking. Banking institutions need to exploit the opportunities that arise from these developments and changes to remain competitive. The successful financial institutions in the future will be those that are able to leverage most from the information and communications technology revolution. Increasingly, consumers are also demanding more efficient banking services and are becoming more discerning of the power that the technology brings. The winners will be those financial institutions that are able to harness on the capability of ICT in making strategic decisions in terms of enabling better alignment of business, enhancing organisational capacity and capability, risk management and building better customer relationship.