space efficiently. singapore – charting history as a global financial centre while the outlook for us and european economies continues to be uncertain, asia continues to offer growth opportunities. asian banks, which are moderately leveraged, largely deposit - funded and generally conservative in lending, have in recent times, stepped - up their financing activities. as traditional european lenders continue to deleverage, there are opportunities in corporate funding, trade finance and infrastructure finance which asian banks are well placed to take hold of. bis central bankers ’ speeches asia has also seen rising affluence amongst its population and increased interest from international investors as an investment destination. this has presented greater investor demand, paving the way for the growth of asia ’ s capital markets and asset management sectors. these developments will help drive a new chapter in asian finance. we will continue to ensure that we have adequate supply of premium infrastructure to support the sustained growth of the business financial centre here. our office rental rates in singapore remain competitive. based on cbre ’ s q1 2012 singapore market view, the average monthly rental for grade a office space dipped by 4. 7 % quarter - on - quarter to $ 10. 10 per square feet ( compared to the 3. 6 % fall in q1 2012 ). ( this is well priced compared to premium office space in hong kong and tokyo, at about 50 % and 70 % of their costs, respectively. occupancy rates for core cbd in singapore remain healthy at about 92 % ( in q2 2012 ). the increase in premium office space at competitive rental rates bodes well for singapore, and will strengthen our role as a competitive business hub in asia and globally. conclusion i congratulate all those who have played a role in making this new development possible. i am optimistic that the two towers of one raffles place will remain as one of the most recognised business addresses in the historic raffles place and will continue to contribute to singapore ’ s success story. bis central bankers ’ speeches

##ad, standard chartered bank, and the hong kong and shanghai banking corporation. 8 as of end - may 2021, lenders have approved : 1 ) more than 1, 400 partial principal deferments on $ 3. 8 billion of sme loans which is 20 % by number and 40 % by value of those granted under the first set of industry - wide relief measures last year ; 2 ) more than 4, 600 reduced instalment plans for $ 3. 6 billion of mortgages, which is 12 % by number and value of those granted under the first set of industry - wide relief measures last year ; 3 ) and just under 950 applications to convert close to $ 17 million of outstanding balances on unsecured revolving credit facilities into term loans in 2021, which is less than 10 % by number and value of those granted last year. between october 2020 and march 2021, insurers have granted around 6, 900 premium deferments for life and health insurance ( around $ 26. 5 million in deferred premiums ), which represent a decrease of 80 % from the number of deferrals granted in the first 6 months when industry - wide reliefs were implemented. 9 excluding holding companies 10 such as private equity, real estate, reits, and venture capital. 11 about 56 % of the growth is attributed to net inflows and the remaining 44 % to valuation gains. 12 this refers to new jobs created and do not take into account gross outflow of jobs. 13 [ mas - ibf employment outlook survey. 9 / 9 bis central bankers'speeches