muhammad bin ibrahim : the future of finance speech by mr muhammad bin ibrahim, governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at a " teh tarik session ", at the harvard petronas alumni event " the future of finance ", kuala lumpur, 8 september 2017. * * * thank you for inviting me here today to share my thoughts on the future of finance. the future is always a topic weighing heavily on the psyche of our nation, as we reflect on our transformation over the last 60 years, and what the future will be 50 years from now. i would like to share my thoughts today in three parts : a. a brief reflection on finance and five themes that may affect its future ; b. a look at four possible future scenarios that may develop based on these themes ; and c. finally, implications of these future scenarios on the bank and policy development. let me place a qualifier here, it is not an exhaustive survey of the future landscape. my remarks today are meant to stimulate our thinking and discussion. these are my personal reflections and insights. finance across the years and five themes for the future at its most basic level, finance is an intermediary service that matches the funding, saving and investing needs of agents in an economy. it lubricates the economy to function smoothly and allocate scarce resources efficiently. but over the years finance has evolved. it is useful to understand the ideas behind why and how finance has changed in the past. first, developments in finance have primarily been driven by the needs of society and the economy. the creation of banks, the stock market and finance as we know it today, reflect this. secondly, as with other sectors of the economy, finance has synthesised considerably during periods of significant technological innovation. for instance, the pervasive use of smartphones in societal mainstream has enabled finance to reach a wider segment of society today than was ever conceivable in the past, making it possible for previously underserved segments of society to gain access to finance. as we ponder on the future of finance, and to start off the conversation, i would like to share five observations or themes that might possibly shape the development of finance in the future. indeed, some are already beginning to take form in our market today. the first, finance will be democratised as we move forward. technology is the catalyst. the great equaliser. this will open up a vast spectrum of possibilities for new en

december 2, 2021 bank of japan economic activity, prices, and monetary policy in japan speech at a meeting with local leaders in hyogo suzuki hitoshi member of the policy board ( english translation based on the japanese original ) i. recent economic and price developments a. economic developments i would like to begin my speech by talking about overseas economies. overseas economies have recovered on the whole, albeit with variation across countries and regions ( chart 1 ). specifically, the united states and europe, where vaccinations against the novel coronavirus ( covid - 19 ) moved ahead of other countries and regions, keep seeing economic improvement as the resumption of economic activity continues to progress. the chinese economy is still recovering as a trend, although the pace of improvement has decelerated, partly due to the resurgence of covid - 19 and power supply issues, for example, exerting downward pressure on domestic demand and production. regarding emerging and commodity - exporting economies other than china, domestic demand and production in some countries and regions were under downward pressure due to the spread of covid - 19 in summer 2021, but these economies have picked up on the whole as the effects of the spread have been waning recently. against this background, japan's economy has picked up as a trend, although it remains in a severe situation due to the impact of covid - 19 at home and abroad ( chart 2 ). regarding the impact at home, with the repeated resurgence of confirmed cases, the economy has been pushed down significantly, mainly in the face - to - face services sector, including dining - out and travel ; however, with the number of cases having been at a low level since autumn, such downward pressure seems to have started to wane somewhat. as for the impact abroad, the spread of covid - 19 in the asean countries in summer and the semiconductor shortage have affected global supply chains. this has led to a temporary deceleration in exports and production in japan, mainly in the automobile - related sector. that said, a virtuous cycle from corporate profits to business fixed investment continues to operate, supported by the recovery in overseas economies and the effects of various policy measures. thus, i am of the view that the pick - up trend in japan's economic activity as a whole is maintained. let me elaborate on this by component. first, exports continue to increase as a trend on the back of the recovery in overseas economies, despite being weak recently due to the effects