affected the availability of bank credit. in accordance with its mandate, the governing council is resolute in its determination to keep medium and long - term inflation expectations firmly anchored in line with price stability. this will preserve purchasing power in the medium term and support sustainable economic growth and employment. it is against this background that the governing council on 4 september decided to leave the key ecb interest rates unchanged. on the basis of its assessment, the governing council believes that the current monetary policy stance will contribute to achieving the objective of price stability over the medium term. indeed, the governing council will continue to monitor very closely all developments. financial stability situation and overview of the ecb ’ s recent monetary policy operations let me now turn to the developments as regards financial stability. recent developments suggest that the balance of risks in the ecb financial stability assessment remains tilted towards the downside. this is because the persistent, although moderating, decline in us house prices is leading to a rise in loan delinquencies and losses, and commensurate further declines in mortgage backed securities prices. also in the euro area, economic growth has slowed down and credit risks could have increased in some housing markets and related corporate sector loans. at the same time, however, there is little evidence to suggest that the availability of bank credit in the euro area, as a whole, has been until now significantly affected by the financial market tensions. that said, as we already emphasised, the persistence of the financial market tensions may have made the financial system more vulnerable to the crystallisation of other pre - existing risks. these include the possibility of a more broad - based turn in the global credit cycle, disorderly developments owing to global imbalances, and the financial stability implications of volatile energy prices. more generally, the outlook for euro area and global financial stability will increasingly depend on the interaction between macroeconomic developments and the financial system, and on how banks respond to a challenging operating environment. the financial market correction could be gradually changing its nature and scope and evolve into a more traditional credit - cycle downturn. in such circumstances, it is more likely that the adjustment process will not abate as key participants in the financial system continue their efforts to strengthen their liquidity and capital positions. in an environment where balance sheet conditions change unexpectedly, there is no room for complacency. in the last three months, the ecb continued to apply three measures it had used so far since the start of the financial market turbulence

lim hng kiang : singapore ’ s insurance industry – investing in future growth congratulatory remarks by mr lim hng kiang, deputy chairman of the monetary authority of singapore and minister for trade and industry, at the opening of the axa university asia pacific campus singapore, 8 april 2009. * * * mr henri de castries, chairman of axa management board and ceo of axa group distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen i am delighted to be here with you this evening to commemorate the opening of the axa university asia pacific campus. this establishment of a full - fledged corporate training campus here reflects axa group ’ s continued commitment to people development, in asia and to singapore. we welcome the leadership and foresight demonstrated by axa in investing in future growth of the industry. this investment is especially significant given the current difficult economic environment. allow me to first comment on global economic and financial developments. overview of economic and financial developments in the world, including asia as you know, global financial markets are going through very turbulent times. the sharp downturn in global economic activities has taken many by surprise. some say that this current macroeconomic condition is like the perfect storm. sharp tightening of credit conditions, loss of confidence in banking and capital markets and sharp declines in output have resulted in a gloomy outlook for the global economy with projected growth of a meagre ½ percent for 2009. this is probably the lowest rate since world war ii. the global insurance industry was not spared the impact of the volatile financial markets. while the industry has generally been fairly resilient to date, business conditions this year are expected to be very challenging. insurance companies not only have to manage their capital bases in this fluctuating market, they also need to cope with lower business volumes as a result of the recession. forecasts are for very tempered growth in the industry this year. however, the long term potential of the insurance sector in asia remains promising. as such, insurance companies should stay engaged and take this opportunity to strengthen your operational capabilities. this will help us ride the crisis and position for the upturn. in this respect, i would like to share two potential areas that insurance firms can focus on : ( i ) insurance industry to focus on core competencies first, if there is one thing that this crisis has taught us, it is for us to go back to fundamentals. the financial crisis is a timely reminder for the insurance industry to stay focused on their core competencies and to continually