that are used on an ongoing basis to promote the safety and soundness of individual financial firms and build a resilient financial system. there are also tools that provide liquidity to banks and other financial intermediaries in emergencies, such as the discount window or lending facilities created to extend credit more broadly. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches so far, these financial stability tools have had a good track record of effectively promoting financial stability in the united states. numerous lending facilities set up in the spring of 2020 helped limit strains that the pandemic put on the financial system. more recently, when the failure of silicon valley bank led to the loss of deposits at other banks, the discount window and a new facility to help ensure banks have the ability to meet the needs of all their depositors have been effective at containing stresses in the banking system. importantly, these actions to address financial stability enabled us to continue to pursue our monetary policy objectives during these times. compared with financial stability tools that address liquidity or other strains in targeted individual institutions or segments of the financial system, monetary policy affects everyone and every part of the economy and would be a blunt and less effective tool to address financial stability problems. that said, in carrying out monetary policy, we do consider how credit conditions and other factors related to financial stability are affecting the economy. as i argued in a speech last month, the recent strains in the banking sector may lead to a tightening of price and nonprice conditions for lending. 2 if that is the case, then it might reduce the need for at least some further tightening of monetary policy to lower inflation. the fed could tighten policy too much if it ignored such a development. to make this argument more concrete, consider the onset of the pandemic in march 2020. the federal open market committee held two unscheduled meetings where, recognizing that the coronavirus would weigh on economic activity and pose risks to the economic outlook, it lowered the policy target range down to zero. at the same time, the unprecedented uncertainty about how the macroeconomy would be affected by the pandemic destabilized financial markets, which led the federal reserve to put in place several lending facilities to support the system. we took each of these actions independently ; we did not lower the policy rate for the sole purpose of achieving financial stability. although both types of tools were used simultaneously, they were used to solve different problems. financial stresses in the banking sector are a factor that my colleagues

9 / 8 / 2017 remarks at the bank of china sydney branch's 75th anniversary celebration dinner | speeches | rba speech remarks at the bank of china sydney branch's 75th anniversary celebration dinner philip lowe governor sydney – 8 september 2017 [ acknowledgement of special guests and hosts ] it is an honour to be here this evening to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the opening of the bank of china's first branch in australia. on behalf of the reserve bank of australia, i would like to pass on our warmest congratulations. the story of how the bank of china came to establish a branch in australia in 1942 is a story of resilience and friendship. over recent weeks i have had the opportunity to read about this story through the yellowed pages of the reserve bank's archives. when conflict came to singapore in 1942, mr parkane hwang from the bank of china's singapore branch decamped to what was then known as batavia. from there, he sought a visa to travel to australia to establish a branch of the bank of china in sydney. it must have been a difficult and stressful time. true to australia's welcoming nature, especially to those in need, the visa was granted. by midyear, the branch was in operation, with mr hwang's deputy from the singapore branch, mr s. c. lu, as its representative. in those days it was quicker to get a banking licence than it is today! it is clear from our archives that the granting of this licence was a significant sign of friendship by australia towards china. it was very unusual at the time to grant such licences. upon the licence being granted, one of my predecessors as governor – governor h. t. armitage of the commonwealth bank of australia, which at the time carried out central banking functions – wrote to mr lu to congratulate the bank of china on the new branch. i would like to read from that letter, as 75 years later i could not have put it better myself. governor armitage wrote : http : / / www. rba. gov. au / speeches / 2017 / sp - gov - 2017 - 09 - 08. html 1 / 3 9 / 8 / 2017 remarks at the bank of china sydney branch's 75th anniversary celebration dinner | speeches | rba ‘ i feel sure that the entry of your bank into the australian banking system will not only be of inestimable value in facilitating business relationships between china and australia