to the existing regulatory framework that commensurate with the risk and scale of activities. the bank has also established the sme automation and digitalisation facility ( adf ) in march 2020, which aims to encourage smes to automate processes and digitalise operations to increase productivity and efficiency. in march 2021, an additional allocation of rm700 million has been provided for the adf, bringing the facility ’ s total size to rm1 billion. 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches to conclude, islamic financial institutions have developed into matured institutions that are now offering a wide range of financial solutions to meet the varied needs of customers. therefore, halal businesses should seize these opportunities to better position themselves and embrace sustainability, as well as digitalisation that aim to provide stronger platforms to rebound as the economy recovers. in closing, i would like to share with you an inspiring verse from the quran, that serves as the foundation to the key points i have intended to raise earlier. in surah al - baqarah verse 195, allah s. w. t mentioned, “ and do good, indeed allah loves the doers of good ”. so, let us embrace this message together and put more effort in propagating good, particularly in the way we conduct businesses, by not just being halal, but also beneficial to the environment and society at large in line with the commandment of allah s. w. t. let us begin this today, here at the world halal business conference 2021. thank you and i wish everyone a pleasant and productive conference. 1 source : dinar standard, the state of global islamic economy 2020 / 2021 2 halal food, islamic finance, muslim - friendly travel, pharma and cosmetics 3 source : hdc himp 2030 4 bnm internal survey 5 source : hdc vibes issue 06 / 2021 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

a very slow pace. in personal consumption, outlays on services such as travel services have shown a moderate increase, while outlays on goods, as indicated by sales of automobiles and household electric appliances as well as department store sales, have remained sluggish. in addition, housing starts have declined more recently to 1. 3 million from the 1. 5 million per annum level prevailing until spring 1997. with such weakness in final demand, inventory adjustment pressures remain in the consumer durables - and construction - related industries, and thus industrial production has been declining slightly. such developments seem to be gradually affecting employment and income. however, this year ’ s temporary economic slowdown is inevitable in that the economy is at a phase in which the downward pressures of fiscal tightening appear most strongly. the concern is how these developments will affect the momentum of the self - sustained economic recovery in 1998. at present, corporate profits and employment income, which form the basis of the self - sustained recovery, continue to be on an upward trend. therefore, it is unlikely that the economy has entered a recession. however, there is some weakening of the virtuous circle of production, income, and expenditure, and if this trend continues, it may undermine the strength of the self - sustained recovery. the bank will therefore continue closely to monitor the pace of recovery in consumption, progress in inventory adjustment, and developments in household and corporate sentiment. meanwhile, prices have remained stable on the whole. domestic wholesale prices have continued to decline slowly, particularly those of construction materials. consumer prices, after excluding the effect of the rise in the consumption tax rate, have been at a level slightly above that of the previous year, and corporate service prices remain at the previous year ’ s level. in view of such economic and price conditions, the bank is determined to observe developments carefully in managing monetary policy, placing emphasis on strengthening the foundation of the economic recovery. in the conduct of market operations, the bank intends to continue supplying sufficient liquidity to the financial market, to thereby ensure smooth transactions and stability of market interest rates. - 8b. lending attitude of financial institutions with regard to the recent financial situation, there have been various discussions concerning the cautious lending attitude of financial institutions. today, financial institutions are faced with many challenging management issues, such as expeditious disposal of nonperforming loans, as well as implementation of measures to deal with the japanese “ big bang ” financial reform and with the introduction of prompt corrective action