november 2012 had a one - off impact on reducing food price inflation. core inflation, which excludes food prices, remains low and stable, indicative of relatively subdued demand pressures. buoyant liquidity conditions, poor credit appetite and the cut in the repo rate have pushed interest rates to historical lows. however, we are yet to see a broader pick up in business lending. credit granted by the consolidated financial system to the private sector grew slowly throughout 2012 and at a fairly gradual clip of 2 – 3 per cent in the first four months of 2013. of concern is that business credit, which showed hopeful signs of recovery in the first half of 2012, has subsequently lost momentum. meanwhile, we have seen strengthened consumer lending, with increases in borrowing recorded for motor vehicles, home renovation and educational purposes. even though real estate mortgage lending remains the only credit category demonstrating vibrant double digit growth there is no compelling evidence of overheating in the property market. according to data provided by private valuators, the estimated median price of a typical 3 - bedoom today is about 10 per cent lower than the peak in median house prices in early 2012. more importantly, commercial banks have maintained their mortgage lending standards, with still conservative loan - to - value and loan service - to - income ratios. given the gradual pace of economic recovery and the stability of core inflation, the central bank has maintained an accommodative monetary stance. to provide a needed boost to economic activity, the bank cut its key policy rate, the repo rate, by 25 basis points to a record low of 2¾ per cent in september 2012, following 75 basis points of previous cuts since december 2010. lethargic credit demand and high net fiscal injections have led to a considerable build up of excess liquidity in the financial system. commercial banks ’ excess reserves held at the central bank rose to a daily average of around $ 5½ billion in the first half of 2013, from a daily average of nearly $ 4 billion in the first half of 2012. the bank continues to absorb some of this excess liquidity through open market operations and through requesting commercial banks to roll over maturing holdings of interest - bearing special deposits held at the bank. sales of foreign exchange by the bank also indirectly removed some excess liquidity from the banking system. we also facilitated the issue of a $ 1 billion, seven - year treasury bond in may 2013 to support our liquidity absorption efforts. these treasury bonds are purely for the purposes of

ong chong tee : financial integration – a collective effort towards efficient and resilient markets speech by mr ong chong tee, deputy managing director ( financial supervision ) of the monetary authority of singapore, at the launch event for eu - asia - pacific forum on financial regulation, singapore, 14 october 2016. * * * mr olivier guersent, director general for financial stability, financial services and capital markets union ( european commission ) dr michael pulch, eu ambassador to singapore, mr ashley alder, chair of the iosco board and chief executive of hong kong sfc, mr ryozo himino, aprc chairman and vice - minister of international affairs, japan fsa, mr paul andrews, iosco secretary general, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of all my colleagues at the mas, let me extend a warm welcome to everyone at this launch event of the eu - asia - pacific forum on financial regulation. it is a privilege and honour for the mas to host this inaugural forum on financial regulation between the eu authorities and members of the iosco asia - pacific regional committee ( aprc ). this launch event will no doubt set the stage for the in - depth closed - door discussions to follow over the course of today. the impetus for this forum is a recognition that the financial markets of europe and asia are increasingly inter - connected. one measure, for example, is the total portfolio assets held by investors from the largest five eu economies1, in the asia and pacific region 2. this has grown from around us $ 240 billion in december 2001 to over us $ 820 billion in december 2015 ( according to imf statistics ). and this growth has been positive each year except for a decline during the last global financial crisis. in the same period, total portfolio investment assets held by investors from the asia and pacific region in these same european markets have grown from us $ 420 billion to over us $ 930 billion. 3 therefore, developments in each of our jurisdiction and region can have a significant spill - over impact on the other. financial regulators form one important stakeholder group and platforms for dialogue and sharing such as in this forum will be helpful in promoting greater mutual understanding and cooperation. importance of regulatory cooperation i am sure that everyone in this room will agree on the importance of regulatory exchanges and co - operation. asia - pacific jurisdictions including singapore play host to many european financial institutions which are active and significant participants in our respective financial markets. such crossborder and cross - region participation