jacqueline loh : creating opportunities and strengthening the singapore core in financial services keynote speech by ms jacqueline loh, deputy managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the sgunited financial sector jobs & skills fair, singapore, 12 august 2020. * * * 1. good morning, and thank you for inviting me to speak at this first virtual career fair by the institute of banking and finance ( ibf ) for the financial services sector. opening the financial services sector is a key contributor to singapore ’ s economy, and has provided good job opportunities for singaporeans. 2. in 2019, the sector accounted for 13. 3 % of gdp1 and employed more than 170, 0002 workers. during 2015 - 2019, the sector created 22, 000 net jobs. our estimate suggests that of this, 16, 000 – or 3 out of every 4 jobs – went to locals. and these are good jobs : 15, 000 local jobs created were at salaries within the top 40 % of 2016 salaries. the median income of locals in the sector last year was $ 7, 600, well above the national median of $ 4, 600. as the sector has grown and strengthened its competitiveness as a global financial centre in asia, it has created good jobs for locals. this year, financial services sector growth has held up thus far, with retrenchment levels subdued. 3. the sector3 expanded by 5. 9 % year - on - year in 1h 2020, and employment rose by about 1, 500, based on mas ’ estimate. our internal estimates suggests that locals continue to take up at least 3 out of every 4 jobs created. retrenchments in the sector have to - date been modest. based on data from the ministry of manpower ( mom ), retrenchment in 1q 2020 for finance & insurance services4 was similar to the average quarterly retrenchment in 2019. 4. however, the economic environment continues to be challenging. we have to expect that new job creation in the financial sector will slow, while retrenchments are likely to pick up. the singapore economy shrank by 13. 2 % on a year - on - year basis in the second quarter of this year. for the full year, gdp growth is projected at - 7 % to - 5 %. 5 the economic downturn has directly impacted the labour market. mom ’ s preliminary data shows the overall unemployment rate rose to 2. 9 % in june6. retre

on thailand ’ s trade finance business. the challenge here is therefore to weigh carefully the benefits, the costs, the necessity, and the appropriate timing for the adoption of the new international standards so as to ensure that our financial system is not overburdened by unnecessary rules. again, this highlights the tradeoff between financial stability and financial efficiency ladies and gentlemen, in closing, let me reiterate that the bank of thailand gives great care to both price stability and financial stability. the policy responses undertaken by the bank over the past few years have helped preserve the thai financial system ’ s resiliency which in turn contributed to the economy ’ s turnaround. despite challenges in the period ahead, we will try our best to ensure that thailand ’ s economic and financial stability continues to remain intact so as to support the economy ’ s sustainable long - term growth. thank you very much for your attention.