and the largest bank in indonesia, bank mandiri can bring much experience and leadership across the region. bank mandiri ’ s current scope of activities covering trade financing, sme and micro banking products is highly relevant towards advancing the interests of both malaysia and the broader asean region. the entry of bank mandiri into malaysia via the abif framework would also provide an opportunity to further enhance the regional integration in payment systems between malaysia and indonesia. the current collaboration between the atm switches in malaysia ( meps ) and indonesia ( atm bersama ) to facilitate cross - border cash withdrawals can be enhanced to facilitate cross - border remittances leveraging on over 11, 000 atms in malaysia and 17, 000 atms in indonesia. this can be leveraged upon by both the malaysian and indonesian population including the diaspora groups to undertake safe and efficient cross - border remittances. such collaboration can also be extended to facilitate retail payment card transactions via the domestic debit card schemes of both countries. eventually, i envision atms in malaysia and indonesia will be linked seamlessly. this will reduce cost, enhance safety and expand outreach. conclusion let me conclude with a quote by malaysia ’ s second prime minister, tun abdul razak hussein, who said in 1967 that, “ we cannot survive for long as independent but isolated peoples unless we also think and act together and unless we prove by deeds that we belong to a family of southeast asian nations bound together by ties of friendship and goodwill ” we have indeed come a long way in our cooperation and journey between indonesia and malaysia. the potential of bank mandiri as a qualified asean bank in malaysia will be a significant milestone for both our countries and the asean region. it represents the realisation of a vision that was formed more than six years ago with the asean banking integration framework, with roots that go even further back. we should expect greater achievements by both our countries. 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches thank you. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

economy still faces significant headwinds and that there are some meaningful downside risks. in the headwinds department, i would include the run - up in gasoline prices mentioned earlier because that will sap purchasing power, the continued impediments to a strong recovery from ongoing weakness in the housing sector, and fiscal drag at the federal and state and local levels. in terms of downside risks, these include the risk that growth abroad disappoints and the risk of further disruptions to the supply of oil and higher oil prices. on the inflation front, the overall rate of increase of consumer prices, as measured by the 12 - month change of the price index for personal consumption expenditures slowed to 2. 3 percent in february from a recent peak of 2. 9 percent last september. even though the recent rise of gasoline prices mentioned above could interrupt this pattern, we expect this moderation of overall inflation to resume later this year. while the underlying core inflation rate, that strips out volatile food and energy prices, has been somewhat higher than expected a few months back, it appears that the annual rate of core inflation1 has peaked and we expect it to begin to decline later this year. 2 finally, inflation expectations, which play an important role in the inflation process, remain well anchored. by this i mean that people expect that the rate of inflation will continue to be relatively low for some time to come. regional economic conditions so how is the recovery proceeding in the state and region? as i mentioned, the new york fed produces indexes that help us track economic activity in the region. based on these measures, the economic recovery that began in new york state in late 2009 has continued through early 2012, and even gained some momentum. across upstate new york, broadly speaking, the cycle of recession and recovery has been much less pronounced than in the nation, and even the state as a whole. this pattern has been true in syracuse, as well. employment fell by a little over 4 percent during the downturn – a steep drop, to be sure – but only about two - thirds of the decline that occurred nationally. this is quite a change from the region ’ s past recessions, which have tended to be longer and deeper than the nation ’ s. one reason why upstate new york weathered the economic storm a bit better than the nation is the resiliency of its housing markets. like much of upstate new york, syracuse ’ s housing market has been relatively stable and did not experience a