by external parties, drowning out the occasional whispers from the banking industry. given the central role of banks in the economy, bankers have the equivalent of a box seat to provide an informed view on developments in the economy and financial system. rather than being onlookers, the banking industry should weigh in on domestic economic discourse. from sectoral issues to macro trends, bankers ’ perspectives would provide additional viewpoints and enrich assessments by the public and financial community, and help address gaps between reality and perception that have too often dominated the public conversation. it is therefore timely for our bankers to participate more actively in the economic discourse to shape a more balanced narrative. bankers should be proactively offering solutions to some of the pressing economic and financial issues facing the country. a positive voice for socioeconomic change can help instill greater public trust in the role of the banking sector in nation building. a current issue that has disproportionately drawn attention to banks is the affordable housing issue. bank negara malaysia recently featured a box article on this subject in 2016 annual report. the public debate largely continues to misdiagnose or ignore the root cause of the problem, that is, affordability and accessibility, rooted by low incomes and compounded by the huge mismatch between demand and supply of affordable houses. the popular myth, is that it is all about access to financing. i am perplexed. actual data is selfevident. it shows the continued strength in bank financing to households for the purchase of affordable homes, with four in five new housing loans extended for houses priced below rm500, 000. yet banks have done little to educate and inform the public on this financing trend. the industry ought to be at the forefront in explaining the real situation and where possible, offering suggestions to help address this issue. affordable housing is not a problem that is unique to malaysia. policymakers around the world, 2 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches including in developed countries, continue to look for creative solutions to this delicate socioeconomic challenge. a common thread across these solutions is their multi - faceted dimensions. the solution for malaysia has to involve rebalancing the supply of housing towards the affordable segments. we require a bold and pragmatic solution. we estimate a shortage of 960, 000 units of affordable housing. this is projected to reach 1 million units by 2020. a central authority and a national repository can significantly improve the ability to better distribute, monitor and manage the supply -

, the profit sharing and risk sharing characteristics in islamic finance strengthen the incentives for the financial institutions to ensure the profits are commensurate with the risks being assumed. it is this form of finance that we would want to encourage. with this underlying foundations, efforts are being directed to build the domestic financial infrastructure. a challenge that is being specifically addressed is the development of an active secondary global sukuk market. in this regard, there has been a lack of trading in the secondary market especially in the usd sukuk market as the investors tend to buy - and - hold the instruments until maturity. this is largely due to the scarcity of the instruments in the market. in malaysia, the growing ringgit sukuk market has resulted in an active secondary market. this is largely due to the regular and varied issuances throughout the year. this is supported by the investment in research and development and in talent development to ensure the availability of expertise in the structuring of sukuk instruments and in sukuk documentation. having the potential to innovate new instruments will depend on having the necessary talent. this is an area of focus in malaysia to develop the skills, expertise and capability. the islamic financial system in malaysia now offers a wide range of financial products and services that are competitive and able to meet the changing requirements of the domestic and global economy. way forward for the global islamic financial system as we advance forward, we need to recognise the forces of change and the transformation taking place in the international financial system and global economy. relentless efforts have been initiated to reform the international financial system by the international community to address the weaknesses that have contributed to the recent crisis. in this environment, islamic finance needs to continue to evolve to remain effective and competitive. the islamic financial system does not exist in isolation and will continue to develop as an integral part of the global financial system. as part of efforts to ensure sustainability in this new and more challenging environment, a task force on islamic finance and global financial stability was formed by the islamic development bank ( idb ) and the islamic financial services board ( ifsb ). the report, which was completed in april this year, sets out eight areas that need to be further strengthened to bring the islamic financial system to a higher level of performance in this new economic and financial order that is emerging. a recommendation of the report is the establishment of an islamic financial stability forum ( ifsf ) based at the ifsb as a strategic platform for productive dialogues to promote