in many emerging economies, income inequality is a significant cause of economic and social instability and could lead to widespread support of populist policies. unbanked and underserved people need to have access to financial services, which can help them raise their standards of living. emergence of fintech and techfin firms, along with their diverse platforms, can offer more targeted financial products at lower costs and improve financial access, especially to the underserved people. ladies and gentlemen, to fulfil these three key imperatives, the bank of thailand has taken on various initiatives during the past few years : on boosting productivity, we have many exciting projects underway. last year, the bank of thailand together with the ministry of finance and the thai bankers ’ association launched the promptpay faster payment infrastructure. with promptpay, funds can be transferred to a recipient ’ s preferred bank account in real time and at virtually no cost. promptpay provides a crucial payment infrastructure, which helps propel a wider adoption of e - payment. currently, there are almost 43 million registered user accounts and over 3 million transactions per day. the increasing usage of promptpay also served as a catalyst that led all banks in thailand to eliminate electronic fund transfer fees for online retail transactions. besides, being a common infrastructure, promptpay has also paved ways for many other digital payment features, including cross - bank bill payment, request - to - pay as well as e - donation services. another initiative to promote digital payment services is the standardized qr code. launched in collaboration with the five major global payment card network providers, thailand ’ s standardized qr code for payment allows acceptance of common qr code for e - payment on any platforms regardless of merchants ’ and consumers ’ service providers. its interoperability has led to remarkable speed of adoption ; in less than one year since its launch, qr code payment is accepted by over 2 million merchants all over thailand. more importantly, having common standards would improve competition and innovation, as they allow easy market entry for all players, especially small innovative players. ultimately, greater adoption of digital payment will 3 / 6 help facilitate the transformation from collateral - based lending to information - based lending for smes as their payment transactions information can be consolidated and analyzed. in addition, the bank of thailand also supports financial innovation through our regulatory sandbox. the sandbox serves as a platform for financial institutions and fintech firms to test new technologies and operating standards in a safe environment before

to remain vigilant. it is highly likely that, after a long period of a synchronised downturn in the economic performance of advanced economies, next year will be characterised by an asynchronised recovery. the us economy appears to be in the advanced stages of repair with a declining degree of slack in the labour market. while there is uncertainty about the pace at which discouraged jobseekers will return to work, there is optimism that wage and income growth will return in the course of the next year. us corporate investment is rising and the fiscal metrics look better than last year. the uk is in a similar situation, perhaps even more advanced in their recovery, evident in falling unemployment and rising productivity. it is quite likely that these two economies will begin tightening monetary policy in the first half of 2015 and while the rates normalisation process is likely to be gradual and prolonged, given continued fragility in the global economy, interest rates are likely to be on their way up. the monetary policy situation in the eurozone is vastly different. persistently low inflation threatens to unhinge long term inflation expectations, increasing the likelihood of deflation. europe ’ s leaders recognise that higher inflation, on average, is critical to enable the economic adjustment process in peripheral europe to continue. last month the ecb reduced their key policy rate to 0. 05 per cent and took their bank deposit rate further into negative bis central bankers ’ speeches territory. a commitment to purchase asset - backed securities from the commercial banks, designed to stimulate bank lending, was also announced. furthermore, the ecb made it clear that if these measures did not work, they would consider more generalised quantitative easing, including the purchase of government bonds. even though japanese inflation is at a five year high, long term inflation expectations in japan remain low and hence policy makers are unlikely to withdraw the current monetary policy stimulus. there is rising confidence that china ’ s transition away from investment and exports towards domestic consumption will be managed smoothly. risks in the housing market and related risks in the shadow banking sector remain a concern but, to date, the authorities have managed the adjustment without significant negative shocks. china ’ s adjustment process does have a dampening effect on commodity prices, which impacts many emerging markets including those in sub - saharan africa. however, the possibility of higher chinese consumption could provide a boost for the world economy over the longer term. foreign investment on the african continent is diversifying towards sectors outside of mining and oil. investment