##raisal of financial status of insurance companies were also strengthened. in addition, via the supervision of adequacy of technical reserves of insurance companies, the risk - resistance and indemnity payment capability of insurance companies was enhanced. in the year, supervision and onsite inspection of insurance companies, pension funds management companies and insurance intermediaries were strengthened with a view to appraising their compliance and implementation of provisions under compulsory insurance regulations, aml / cft guidelines and internal supervision applicable to various insurance institutions. with the benefit of the recovery of the overall economic vitality, coupled with appropriate and effective supervision, the insurance sector of macao operated in a stable manner last year, various premiums registered stable growth, profits were up to expectation. as per the end of 2010, total premiums for the insurance sector reached mop3. 78 billion, a year - on - year growth of 15. 7 %, of which life insurance premiums were mop2. 69 billion, a year - on - year growth of 15. 3 %, while non - life insurance premiums reached mop1. 09 billion, a year - on - year growth of 16. 7 %. on the other hand, pension funds management institutions also displayed their function in providing social protection and maintaining social stability. as per the end of 2010, total assets of funds under the management of such institutions exceeded mop6. 2 billion, which covered more than 80, 000 employees, the growth rates were 24 % and 6. 7 % respectively. the pace of economic recovery for advanced industrial nations remained slow. headed by the fed of the us, central banks of western nations took one step further in quantitative easing in formulating their monetary policy. as a result, interest income derived from major overseas financial markets stayed at a historically low level all year round. at the same time, in the face of sovereign debts of the eurozone and financial crisis arising therefrom, prices of financial products and currency exchange rates exhibited greater volatility. against such a backdrop, amcm adopted a more prudent investment strategy for the exchange reserves and the msar reserve fund. as per the end of 2010, our exchange reserves stood at mop190. 2 billion, a year - on - year growth of 29. 8 %, or mop43. 6 billion. the msar reserve fund also grew by mop300 million to mop13. 1 billion, or a growth of

or those who had recently joined the labor force but could not find jobs also poses the risk of permanent unemployment for such people. in this respect, the implementation of structural reforms to improve the labor market will prevent a permanent rise in long term unemployment during the global crisis and underpin the increase in the potential growth rate of the economy. 4. productivity after sharing my views on the labor market, i would like to move on to total factor productivity, the third factor that influences the potential growth rate. total factor productivity in an economy arises from the interaction and combination of a number of elements. the leading one is the establishment of macroeconomic stability by alleviating the uncertainties that economic agents are confronted with. the prerequisite of macroeconomic stability is fiscal discipline and price stability. public balances that have improved thanks to prudent monetary and fiscal policies coupled with the inflationary gains following the deep economic crisis in 2001 are noteworthy steps on the road to establishing macroeconomic stability. economic welfare only increases along with sustainable growth. sustainable growth implies price stability. the growth rate we attained with the high inflation in the 1980 ’ s did not last long and had been replaced by higher inflation rates and economic recession. meanwhile, between 2002 and 2007, high growth rates were attained while a remarkable decline was recorded in inflation. in this scope, we are of the opinion that the monetary policy implemented by the central bank of turkey, which is consistent with the main objective of price stability, has supported the establishment of price stability in turkey and contributed to the permanent increase of the competitive power of the whole economy and the exports sector. i would like to emphasize that the quality of fiscal adjustment is crucial for both the struggle with inflation and the permanence of the high growth rates. the fiscal rule, which is to be enforced in the near future will enhance predictability and create confidence for the future. fiscal rules play a critical role in the establishment of fiscal policies consistent with sustainable debt dynamics and foster a more prudent and permanent implementation of fiscal discipline. however, in the light of country experiences, in order that fiscal rules can function as expected, these rules should be implemented in a transparent way as per the required institutional and legal framework to be established. 5. exchange rate as you may have noticed, in my speech regarding how to increase the potential growth rate of turkey, i have not mentioned the issue of foreign exchange rates. economic literature besides country experiences has shown that the value of the currency of a country is the