close to zero and the major central banks have undertaken around usd7 trillion of quantitative easing. although the federal reserve has discontinued its bond purchase programme, global quantitative easing in 2015 is expected to be greater than at any time since 2011. bank bail - outs during the gfc have imposed enormous costs on taxpayers ( close to 30 % of gdp in the case of ireland ) and at home we saw the large fiscal costs associated with the support for south canterbury finance. sound prudential policies relating to capital adequacy, liquidity management, core funding, disclosure requirements, and stress testing of balance sheets cannot always prevent financial crises and the need for unconventional monetary policy, but they can lower the risk of systemic failure. dincer n, and b eichengreen 2014 “ central bank transparency and independence : updates and new measures ” international journal of central banking. bis central bankers ’ speeches vii ) the emergence of macro - prudential policy one of the insights from the gfc was how rapidly instability could develop even though an economy might be growing close to its potential, and be experiencing sound fiscal policy and price stability. an environment of low interest rates, rising leverage, aggressive competition among lending institutions, and a widespread search for yield by investors usually translates quickly into rising asset prices – especially when the global economy is growing at a rapid rate, as was the case during 2003 – 07. when financial crises occur, asset valuations decline and the lower asset prices may be unable to support the debt that financed their acquisition. we are currently seeing considerable appreciation in asset prices ( including fixed income securities, equities, and real estate ) in many countries as a result of extensive monetary accommodation and investors aggressively searching for yield. many central banks and regulatory agencies have turned to macro - prudential policies in an attempt to reduce risks to financial stability, including those associated with an overheated housing market. in view of these concerns, the reserve bank introduced macro - prudential policy in the form of speed limits on high loan - to - value ratio ( lvr ) lending for existing residential property on 1 october 2013. house prices were already significantly overvalued based on historical and international indicators and were accelerating rapidly in auckland and christchurch ( which account for around half of the national market ) and gaining considerable momentum in several other regions. in addition, the ratio of household debt to household disposable income at 156 percent was high, and banks were competing aggressively to provide mortgages to borrowers with

, the bank of korea will enforce a 52 - hour workweek policy starting next month. to carry out the central bank ’ s duties under the changed working conditions, we will need to continuously improve our work methods so that we can utilize our resources efficiently within the limited time frame. our staff members will also have to concentrate more on their work. dear fellow members of the bok family! as uncertainties concerning economic conditions have further heightened, amid a number of accumulated problems facing our economy that require resolution, the general public is likely to pin high hopes on the central bank. we should do our best in executing our duties with firm resolution. today, as we greet the 69th year since our bank ’ s establishment, i would like to thank everyone once again for your hard work, and i wish each one of you, together with your families, health and happiness always. thank you. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches