us and the sluggish growth in the euro area risk derailing an economic upswing, and could perhaps even result in a decline. according to the riksbank's assessment, the risks to swedish inflation prospects posed by weaker international economic activity are balanced by the risk of higher inflation in sweden. new collectivewage agreements will be negotiated at the beginning of next year for employees in the private and central government sectors. wages are the single most important factor for inflation and are therefore always associated with inflation risks. but unlike the last big wage bargaining round, which was initiated during the final stages of an economic boom, these negotiations will be conducted when demand in the labour market is weak. nevertheless, there are tensions in the labour market that could result in wage rises that increase cost and inflationary pressures. furthermore, energy prices have not fallen as much as we expected during the summer, which means that the risks of contagion effects have increased somewhat. growth and welfare in the long run a monetary policy that leads to price stability creates favourable conditions for economic activities, consumption, trade and investment. but monetary policy in itself cannot generate growth. other economic policy decisions can, however, especially those that affect people's willingness to work and invest in new businesses. between 1975 and 1995 sweden lost its previously so prominent position in the world. these years were also characterised by substantial wage increases and high inflation. average inflation during this period was 8 per cent per year. we also lagged behind our nordic neighbours. had we experienced the same growth as norway, denmark and finland during these years, the standard of living in sweden today would be about 20 per cent higher. partly as a result of the economic policies of the 1970s and 1980s, sweden found itself in serious economic crisis at the beginning of the 1990s. this led to large deficits in both the central government budget and the current account, as well as to unemployment that quadrupled in the space of a few years. it was the largely the lessons drawn from this crisis that formed the basis for the changes in economy policy at the beginning of the 1990s. it was then that price stability was introduced as the objective of monetary policy. as regards fiscal policy, an expenditure ceiling and surplus target for central government expenditure were introduced, while cutbacks were also implemented. moreover, entry into the eu and reforms in the tax and social security systems helped create better conditions for economic growth. today, sweden's central government finances are healthy, there is a surplus in

encik adnan zaylani mohamad zahid : welcoming remarks - islamic finance rendezvous series welcoming remarks by mr encik adnan zaylani mohamad zahid, assistant governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the islamic finance rendezvous series, bayan lepas, 14 january 2019. * * * it is a pleasure to be here this morning. on behalf of bank negara malaysia, i would like to express our appreciation to the state government of penang for hosting this inaugural islamic finance rendezvous series ; and to the chief minister of penang, yab tuan chow kon yeow and yb dato ’ haji abdul halim bin haji hussain for gracing this event. i would also like to welcome the businessmen and entrepreneurs joining us this morning. a recent survey we did revealed that almost 60 % of smes were not aware of the availability of islamic business financing facilities. indeed, most smes adopted conventional financing. some may still have the misconception that islamic finance is only for muslims. today, we hope to dispel this and create more awareness about what islamic finance is and has to offer. we have assembled a number of industry experts and leaders for this, and i would like to extend our thanks to the association of islamic banking and financial institutions malaysia ( aibim ), the malaysian takaful association ( mta ) and other partners for your support and commitment to organise this programme. islamic finance has evolved from a niche market into the mainstream allow me to give an overview of where we are in islamic finance. islamic finance is an established industry in malaysia. islamic banking assets stood at rm874 billion or 30. 4 % of total banking assets as at end september last year, with an annual growth of 10 % over the past three decades. the end of q3 last year also saw takaful contributions amounting to rm1. 7 billion with market penetration at 15 %. growth of islamic finance in malaysia has been resilient and supportive of social and economic developments. what underlies this growth is the robust foundation and building blocks that the government and bank negara malaysia, together with the industry, have worked towards, namely in infrastructure development, institution building, robust regulatory framework and product development. we are now at a stage where we view that the foundations are solid and the industry is ready to deliver solutions to meet your needs. islamic finance as an enabler of growth there is now