established, i am glad to note that the financial institutions and money brokers have already joined as institutional members. the majority of the acihk members have also joined as individual members. this broad membership makes the tma the authoritative industry association and focal point for treasury matters in hong kong. i am also glad that there are four committees established to focus on the four key areas that i have spoken about. we at the hkma consider the tma an important new element of our financial infrastructure. we are confident that the tma will play a pivotal role in the maintenance of the status of hong kong as an international financial centre. may i congratulate you all on today's inauguration a nd wish you all the very best for the future.

japan ’ s exports first, i would like to touch on overseas economies. overseas economies – mainly advanced economies – have been recovering, albeit with a lackluster performance still seen in part of emerging economies. overseas economies weakened rather substantially in the januarymarch quarter of 2015, particularly in the united states and china, but they are expected to continue recovering moderately, mainly in the advanced economies, and the positive effects of this are likely to gradually spread to the emerging economies. this view is shared among international organizations such as the international monetary fund ( imf ). according to the world economic outlook ( weo ) update published in july by the imf, global economic growth in 2015 has been revised downward to 3. 3 percent, due to its weakening in the january - march quarter, but is projected to accelerate moderately and register 3. 8 percent in 2016 ( chart 1 ). bis central bankers ’ speeches looking closely at the developments in overseas economies by region, the u. s. economy has continued to recover solidly, assisted by household spending, although adjustments have been seen in the industrial production sector, mainly on the back of the decline in crude oil prices and the appreciation of the u. s. dollar. in the january - march quarter of 2015, the economy exhibited slightly negative growth due to transitory factors such as the effects of the severe winter weather and the strikes at west coast ports ( chart 2 ). nevertheless, the growth momentum of the economy has recently recovered from the temporary stall in winter against the backdrop of the continued favorable employment and income situation. from spring, private consumption clearly has rebounded, as seen mainly in improvements in retail and automobile sales. going forward, there will be sectors that are affected by the decline in crude oil prices and the appreciation of the u. s. dollar, but the u. s. economy is likely to continue to see growth led mainly by private demand, with robust household spending assisted by the favorable employment and income situation. regarding monetary policy, the next step toward normalization will come into sight ; namely, raising the target range for the federal funds rate. this seems to suggest that the u. s. economy has recovered to a considerable level. however, it is necessary to monitor with due attention whether markets, especially those in emerging economies, will be affected unexpectedly through a reversal of the global flow of funds as the federal funds rate – which has been at the zero lower bound after the global financial crisis – will be raised. next, i will