muhammad bin ibrahim : the “ islamic finance country report for malaysia 2015 ” keynote address by mr muhammad bin ibrahim, deputy governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the launch of the “ islamic finance country report for malaysia 2015 ”, kuala lumpur, 30 june 2015. * * * thank you for the invitation today to officiate the launch of the “ islamic finance country report for malaysia 2015 ” published by irti, the research and training arm of the islamic development bank. this country report is the fifth in its series and features malaysia ’ s ongoing initiatives and prospects in transforming into a high income economy and the contribution of islamic finance in this endeavour. islamic finance in malaysia has undergone three decades of progress and its current state of development is the reflection of the collaborative effort between the industry and the government. while malaysia has achieved a number of successes, a lot needs to be done still. islamic finance needs to advance from domestic - centric growth and expand beyond our borders. the next phase of achievement would very likely hinges on our ability to collaborate successfully with others and harness our capabilities to ensure that islamic finance will progress and expand transactional activities across borders to remain competitive and dynamic. progressive development of islamic finance in malaysia as part of the strategy to sustain balanced economic growth, malaysia has developed islamic finance as one of the sectors that not only adds value to the economy but offers an alternative to businesses and the public. our approach has been holistic, yet focused on specific outcomes. the focused approach has led to the exponential growth of the industry and contributed towards the diversification of the malaysian economy. the future and continued progress of islamic finance in malaysia would very much depend on the industry resourcefulness to build and maintain an innovative, competitive and inclusive islamic financial industry. empirical evidence shows the importance of an enabling environment for islamic finance to fluorish, with tax incentives, business - friendly policies and initiatives, as well as an appropriate and robust regulatory and supervisory framework. it is these ingredients that enable islamic banking assets to consistently record double - digit annual growth rate since year 2000 and now representing 25 % of domestic banking assets. in terms of customer base, it is estimated that non - muslims make up over 50 percent of the customer base of islamic banks in malaysia. growth numbers are also most evident for the islamic capital market, with the sukuk market commanding a 57 percent market share and attracting global issuers and investors. from 2006 to end - 2014, foreign issuers have issued su

toshihiko fukui : semiannual report on currency and monetary control statement by mr toshihiko fukui, governor of the bank of japan, before the committee on financial affairs, house of councillors, tokyo, 21 february 2006. * * * introduction the bank of japan submitted its semiannual report on currency and monetary control for the first half of fiscal 2005 to the diet in december 2005. i am pleased to have this opportunity to present an overall review of the bank's conduct of monetary policy. i. developments in japan's economy the growth of japan's economy slowed temporarily from the second half of 2004 to the summer of 2005. thereafter, it emerged from this pause and has continued to recover steadily. exports and industrial production have continued to increase. business fixed investment has continued to increase against the background of high corporate profits. in the household sector, household income has been rising moderately, as the number of employees has been increasing and wages have picked up. with this improvement in the employment and income situation, private consumption has been steady. looking forward, exports are expected to continue rising against the background of the expansion of overseas economies. domestic private demand is likely to continue increasing reflecting high corporate profits and the moderate rise in household income, while structural adjustment pressure, such as the excess debt of firms, has almost dissipated. given that an environment in which a virtuous cycle can start operating has been established with the recovery both in domestic and external demand and in the corporate and the household sectors, the economy is likely to experience a relatively long period of growth, albeit at a moderate pace. nevertheless, risk factors such as the continuing surge in crude oil prices and its possible effect on overseas economies should continue to be monitored closely. on the price front, the environment influencing prices has been improving. the output gap has been narrowing moderately, as the economy continues to recover at a pace above its potential. the decline in unit labor costs has been slowing with the increases in wages, despite continued downward pressure from the rise in productivity. various survey results show that firms'and households'expectations regarding prices are gradually being revised upward. as for price indexes, domestic corporate goods prices registered the largest increase on a year - onyear basis since march 1990, mainly reflecting the rise in international commodity prices and the depreciation of the yen in the second half of 2005, and are expected to continue increasing. the yearon - year rate of change in consumer prices ( excluding fresh food,