move forward very quickly with their investment plans. economists call this “ animal spirits ” because it is very hard to predict. encouraging signs but some new data suggest we may be turning the corner. recently published private surveys of business sentiment show some improvement. further, financial market uncertainty has declined, according to canadian and global indicators. such measures of financial volatility may well be serving as proxies for actual world events or developments. we will be watching these closely to see if this improving trend continues. the bank ’ s interviews with canadian business leaders for our autumn business outlook survey are being conducted right now. i am looking forward to learning about their views and perspectives – and if, and how, they may be changing. but perhaps the most exciting sign is that the population of canadian companies is growing again. today, there are some 40, 000 more firms with at least one employee than there were last year at this time. this pace is considerably stronger than we would expect in normal, non - recessionary times and suggests that we may be replacing some of the firms that were lost in the recession with new ones. this is excellent news. we also know that most of the jobs created since the recession are in occupations requiring relatively high skill levels and are mostly in industries with above - average wages. what this will do is help contribute to the virtuous circle of higher incomes, more spending, and more jobs that is associated with natural growth. bis central bankers ’ speeches all of these signs are hopeful. they are signalling that we are on our way home. where we are going : natural economic growth let ’ s talk about that right now. what does home look like? this is a discussion about the future, so there are many unpredictable variables. however, i anticipate that the canadian economy will normalize and growth will become natural, in contrast to the economic activity of the past six years, which has been fuelled by policy, including record - low interest rates. natural growth will be self - generating and selfsustaining, and the economy will be growing at its potential, as its productive capacity expands. inflation will be back to our target of 2 per cent. as i have said before, policy rates in canada will be higher than they are today. we can expect that short - term interest rates, as is normal, will be above inflation. long - term rates will settle into place along a natural, upward - sloping yield curve. we can anticipate a better balance

, banks should treat their customers fairly when providing various services and financial products to them, and should stand in customers ’ shoes in pursuing profit. but how can we achieve this? in the past few months of discussion with the industry, we found that the basic principles of fair treatment to customers are indeed not so complicated. mr benjamin hung, chairman of the hkab, will brief us on the five principles in the charter. 5. some people wonder why don ’ t we simply make the charter part of the hkma ’ s regulatory requirements for banks given the importance of fair customer treatment? my reply to this is that : banks have to deal with tens of thousands of customers every day to provide a great variety of services and conduct countless transactions. while imposition of regulatory rules would bring about some effects, no external rules could possibly be all - pervasive, more difficult still about transforming the corporate culture or long - standing values in workplace. fair treatment of customers ought to be firmly embedded in the corporate culture of banks that all personnel – from board of directors, chief executives, senior management, to frontline employees – will accept, defend and uphold treating their customers fairly as a guiding principle. banks ’ incentive mechanism must also promote and support this culture in every aspect of the banks ’ operations. bis central bankers ’ speeches 6. bank customers, as consumers of various types of bank products and services, should receive appropriate protection. while banks should treat their customers fairly, the latter should also be responsible and smart. the most basic requirement is that customers should try their best to understand the products and services provided by banks, including credit cards, personal loans, home mortgages and wealth management products, their relevant risks, costs and expenses, and whether the products and services are suitable for them. bank customers cannot and should not blindly blame banks every time an investment loss is incurred or when they get into financial troubles due to excessive borrowing. banking customers ought to be responsible and smart. only then could there be a sustained win - win situation for all concerned. in this regard, the hkma will shortly launch a consumer education programme to help the public learn more about how to become a “ smart and responsible ” financial consumer. 7. this is why the hkma has been working with the industry in the past months in developing the charter. i am pleased to see that the charter has received the full support of 22 retail banks in hong kong. these banks are here today to sign and launch this charter, pledging to