speech measure twice, cut once may 11, 2021 john c. williams, president and chief executive officer remarks at sofr symposium : the final year ( part ii ) ( delivered via videoconference ) as prepared for delivery it's a great pleasure once again to be sharing a platform with andrew bailey as we discuss the transition away from the london interbank offered rate ( libor ). while it's no surprise that our work often brings us together, andrew and i have joined forces on this issue to such a great extent because the libor transition is essential to the integrity of the global financial system. given its ramifications for institutions, markets, and economies around the world, strong cooperation at the international level is of critical importance. as the saying goes, time flies, and it's hard to believe that we've reached 2021. it's been more than a decade since libor has been exposed as a flawed and unreliable reference rate. and, with only 235 days until january 1, 2022, i am pleased to say that the endgame for libor is clearly in sight. 1 this transition has been a monumental feat. the enormous amount of progress was made possible by a significant and coordinated effort across the globe, as well as in the united states. i must also mention that the alternative reference rates committee ( arrc ) has done outstanding work in preparing for the move off libor and, equally important, positioning us with a safe and strong foundation for the post - libor world. 2 and even as i acknowledge all the progress that has been achieved, it's important to remind everyone that there is still a lot to be done to move off libor by the end of the year. this morning i'm going to talk about key principles that we should keep in mind as we build a successful postlibor world. before i continue, let me give the usual disclaimer that the views i express are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the federal open market committee or anyone else in the federal reserve system. measure twice, cut once i want to take you back to only a few years ago, when i was in junior high school. at that time, ticktock was the sound coming from the clock on the wall, and a mobile device was a transistor radio. i was a young student — not of economics, but woodworking. with tools and planks in hand, i learned the number one rule of that craft

to make great strides in uplifting the living standard of the majority of the people within a short span of time. i am extremely encouraged by the impressive progress that is being made by member countries of the asian clearing union. each and every country is working hard to bring about reduction in the incidence of poverty and improve the human development indicators. there is no doubt that the challenges ahead of us are quite formidable but giving the political will, national determinations and collective action i am sure we will be able to march ahead on the road to progress and prosperity. the last five years have been extremely critical for our own country, pakistan. the strategy of economic revival that was initiated in december, 1999 has been successfully implemented and its main pillars were achieving macro - economic stability, improve the governance, introduce structural reforms and resume the path to accelerated growth. the results of the implementation of this strategy are quite well known and i will not get into the details as pakistan delegation will dwell on them in their presentation. let me briefly add here that the banking sector reforms undertaken by the state bank during the last five years have helped us provide stability and strength to pakistan ’ s financial sector. independence of monetary policy has been a major factor in inculcating financial discipline in the public finances, while autonomy of the state bank in regulating the financial system has been the main strength of reviving the financial institutions of the country. by contributing to financial discipline and financial stability, we have managed to turn a poorly managed financial system into a strong and sound one. the state bank would be glad to share the details of the legal, structural, prudential and administrative changes that pakistan has undertaken in the last five years to reach this stage of stability in the banking and the financial sector of the country. i would like to briefly mention here that country ’ s economy has been continuously growing for the past two years. the gdp for the current fiscal year is likely to be over 7½ per cent which will be the highest growth witnessed in the country during the past 13 years. before concluding, i would once again like to welcome the participants and wish them a pleasant stay in pakistan.