a major centre, while other hubs serve other time zones and networks, and together they form an integrated whole through the free flow of funds. in 2004, hong kong was the first offshore market to launch rmb business, and since then it has provided an efficient and reliable settlement platform from which trade settlement is conducted, rmb liquidity built up, financing activities arranged and a wide range of rmb products developed. as the rmb becomes more widely used internationally, other markets that complement hong konga€™s central role are emerging around the world. cooperation between these different markets is conducive to growing the whole market, and we are seeing increasing linkages being set up to facilitate the flow of funds between the markets. bis central bankersa€™ speeches these increasing linkages are the result of several encouraging trends, including the fact that financial institutions in different financial centres have strengthened their business networks in order to serve customersa€™ rmb needs. for instance, the operating hours of hong konga€™s rmb real time gross settlement system have been lengthened, providing the capability to serve the settlement of offshore transactions in the european timezone and early business hours in north america. we at the hkma are also conducting a range of outreach activities to strengthen hong konga€™s rmb business links with other parts of the world. these include conducting roadshows to showcase hong kong as the offshore rmb business centre, as well as facilitating private sector - led forums and dialogue meetings with authorities in australia and london. these and other initiatives have encouraged actions to enhance various financial services, including rmb liquidity management and settlement arrangements, between markets in different parts of the world. concluding remarks as i mentioned at the outset, i had the privilege of delivering the keynote address at last yeara€™s global offshore rmb funding forum as well. in my remarks of a year ago, i mentioned that we are at a period of historic transition with regard to the development of the offshore rmb market. looking at the development of the eurodollar and offshore rmb markets side - by - side, as we just did, gives us a unique perspective on how things might play out in the long run. indeed, as the offshore rmb market reaches maturity, there will no doubt be volumes of literature written by financial historians that compare the birth and development of these two markets. while developments so far have been encouraging, we are still at the initial phase of rm

ben s bernanke : federal reserve ’ s exit strategy testimony by mr ben s bernanke, chairman of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, before the committee on financial services, us house of representatives, washington dc, 10 february 2010. statement as prepared for delivery. the hearing was postponed due to inclement weather. * * * chairmen frank and watt, ranking members bachus and paul, and other members of the committee and subcommittee, i appreciate the opportunity to discuss the federal reserve ’ s strategy for exiting from the extraordinary lending and monetary policies that it implemented to combat the financial crisis and support economic activity. broadly speaking, the federal reserve ’ s response to the crisis and the recession can be divided into two parts. first, our financial system during the past 2 – 1 / 2 years has experienced periods of intense panic and dysfunction, during which private short - term funding became difficult or impossible to obtain for many borrowers. the pulling back of private liquidity at times threatened the stability of major financial institutions and markets and severely disrupted normal channels of credit. in its role as liquidity provider of last resort, the federal reserve developed a number of programs to provide well - secured, mostly shortterm credit to the financial system. these programs, which imposed no cost on the taxpayer, were a critical part of the government ’ s efforts to stabilize the financial system and restart the flow of credit. 1 as financial conditions have improved, the federal reserve has substantially phased out these lending programs. second, after reducing short - term interest rates nearly to zero, the federal open market committee ( fomc ) provided additional monetary policy stimulus through large - scale purchases of treasury and agency securities. these asset purchases, which had the additional effect of substantially increasing the reserves that depository institutions hold with the federal reserve banks, have helped lower interest rates and spreads in the mortgage market and other key credit markets, thereby promoting economic growth. although at present the u. s. economy continues to require the support of highly accommodative monetary policies, at some point the federal reserve will need to tighten financial conditions by raising short - term interest rates and reducing the quantity of bank reserves outstanding. we have spent considerable effort in developing the tools we will need to remove policy accommodation, and we are fully confident that at the appropriate time we will be able to do so effectively. liquidity programs with the onset of the crisis in the late summer and fall of 2007, the federal reserve aimed to