than what they were when i took the position, as a result of foreign currency purchases that we have been making since 2008. the average growth rate between 2005 and 2012 was 4. 3 percent, and average per capita growth during those years was 2. 5 percent. the average inflation rate then as today is within the target range, such that we can say that we did not, and do not today, have an inflation problem. the last decade started with a deep recession and negative growth, and in the middle of the decade, we moved to rapid growth of 6 percent for a number of years, an exceptionally high rate for countries at the level of development of israel. following the financial crisis, we continued to grow at a higher rate than other developed countries, and if we continue maintaining responsible policy, we can, i hope, continue this way. the unemployment rate is very low compared internationally, since while unemployment in israel is in decline, it has risen in many countries. long – term inflation expectations are close to the midpoint of the target range. this means that the public believes that the economy can continue growing without inflationary outbursts, and it can plan its economic life without concern of spikes in prices. this is a very important achievement — thirty years ago, we never would have believed we would attain it. the government deficit grew in 2012 by 4. 2 percent, and in order to reinstate control over the budget, the government recently decided on important measures to reduce the deficit in the coming years. these measures are also very important due to the fact that the interest burden that the government is paying is very high in international comparison, as a result of the risk premium that the financial markets include for the israeli economy. a diplomatic bis central bankers ’ speeches process, if the markets attribute any importance to it, would reduce these costs in the final analysis, although it would take time, since the interest paid today is on debt that was issued in the past, and a reduction in the interest rate would affect new debt. there are many challenges facing the israeli economy. the first challenge to which will relate is handling the problem of poverty. the data unsurprisingly show that the incidence of poverty is higher among large families, and lower as the percentage of wage earners increases. furthermore, the incidence of poverty among arabs and ultra - orthodox jews is very high. in this context, it is important to implement a policy that will increase the labor force participation rate of these two sectors,

50 successful collaborations. customers looking for properties on the propertyguru platform can instantly find out if they are eligible for a property loan and even apply for the loan online. uob has also recently put in place its regional open banking api platform. customers can submit and read restaurant reviews, place reservations, and pay for their food, all within uob ’ s mobile app. to - date, over 270 open apis have been made available by the singapore financial industry. network of international links by the end of this week, mas will have signed 16 fintech cooperation agreements with governments and authorities around the world1 these agreements facilitate information sharing on fintech trends and regulatory issues. they also have a referral mechanism that support singapore fintech start - ups in overseas markets, and facilitate overseas start - ups to set up in singapore as a gateway to asia. some of our co - operation agreements also include joint innovation projects. let me give a tangible example. singapore and thailand have each developed their own systems for making payments from one bank account to another – in real - time, 24 / 7. we call our system paynow ; thailand calls theirs promptpay. mas and the bank of thailand have agreed to work together to link paynow and promptpay. the aim is to enable someone in singapore to send money to someone in thailand, and vice versa, using just their mobile phone numbers – instantly, securely, and at any time of the day. talent and research to sustain our fintech efforts, we need a strong pipeline of talent and research capabilities. we are pleased to announce that mas and the massachusetts institute of technology ( mit ) have agreed to enter an r & d collaboration in fintech. this will enable our local fintech talents to work alongside world - class researchers at the mit media lab to come up with technology solutions to real - world use cases. they will run pilots using distributed ledger technology, cryptography, quantum computing and big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. one area where we want to make a concerted effort is data analytics and artificial intelligence. mas is launching a s $ 27 million artificial intelligence & data analytics grant. this is part of the s $ 225 million financial sector technology & innovation scheme. the new grant will support the adoption and integration of ai and data analytics in financial institutions. 3 / 9 bis central bankers'speeches just as important, it will be used to help professionals in the financial sector to up - skill and adapt to the use of