followed by an economic update speech, where a member of our governing council explains how we considered the key elements related to the economic outlook in our decision - making process. yesterday, the bank maintained its policy interest rate. the ongoing backdrop for these policy rate discussions is a canadian economy that, after some challenging years in the wake of the oil price shock, is operating near its potential and inflation that is very close to our 2 per cent target. here in the province of quebec, growth was above 3 per cent last year — its best performance in more than 15 years. the broad - based growth since the beginning of 2017, and its implications for inflation, has led us to raise the policy interest rate three times since july. with the economy facing uncertainty on a few fronts, each decision, including yesterday ’ s, is less straightforward than the picture i just painted might suggest. the context for the decision before diving deeper into the economic environment we are operating in, let me remind you what we are trying to achieve and how we do it. the bank targets an inflation rate of 2 per cent, within a band of 1 to 3 per cent. it is worth noting that inflation has averaged close to 2 per cent in the past 25 years, and that this success can be attributed in part to our policy, adding to its credibility and increasing public trust in our framework. to reach our goal sustainably, aggregate demand in the economy must be in balance with aggregate supply. our main tool for achieving this is the policy interest rate, which allows us to stimulate or temper demand. the policy interest rate is currently below our estimate for the “ neutral ” rate — that is, the equilibrium interest rate when inflation is at target and the economy is growing at potential, once the effects of any shocks have faded. that means our policy stance remains accommodative. another way to see this is by noting that once adjusted for inflation, our real policy rate is - 0. 75 per cent. our accommodative stance reflects the presence of some factors that continue to weigh on the economy and, in turn, on our forecast for inflation. for example, two such factors are the uncertainty surrounding trade policy, which is restraining business investment, and the impact of the new mortgage financing guidelines on housing activity. with this context in mind, i will share our assessment of global and canadian economic developments and elaborate on the issues that we are watching closely. - 3global economic developments and exports first, let me

ravi menon : securing good jobs in a growing financial industry remarks by mr ravi menon, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the inauguration of bnp paribas ’ asia pacific campus, singapore, 7 march 2014. * * * alain papiasse, deputy chief operating officer and head of corporate and investment banking, bnp paribas group, eric raynaud, chief executive officer of bnp paribas asia pacific, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. i am delighted to join you today to celebrate the opening of bnp paribas ’ new asia pacific campus here in singapore. it is a truly impressive campus, skilfully combining the charms of a colonial heritage building with state - of - the - art facilities and technologies. a significant move the opening of this campus in singapore is significant for a few reasons. • first, it demonstrates bnp paribas ’ firm commitment to strengthening the capabilities of its staff in asia. this is bnp paribas ’ first corporate training centre outside of france. • second, it shows strategic foresight. bnp paribas took the decision to invest in this campus three years ago, when it was facing a very challenging economic environment with the eurozone gripped by crisis. • third, it reflects in a way a broader story of the continued importance of asia to european banks. after almost two years of stagnation, european bank lending to asia has started to rise again. in the area of trade finance for example, recent data shows that european banks are increasing their trade finance activities and have even regained some market share in singapore. three dimensions of a successful finance professional the financial industry in asia and singapore will continue to grow and generate good jobs. • in 2013, singapore ’ s financial sector grew by 11 %, against an overall gdp growth rate of 4. 1 %. growth was supported by increased activities in areas such as corporate transaction banking, trade finance, fund management, private banking and re / insurance. • last year, a total of 4, 500 jobs were created in the financial sector, most of them in higher value - added activities. the demand for highly qualified finance professionals will only grow in the coming years. to take advantage of this opportunity, our finance professionals must acquire three things : • depth in core competencies • cross - functional adaptability • asian knowledge and expertise first, depth in core competencies. jobs in the financial industry are becoming more complex, requiring deeper knowledge,