benoit cœure : interview in corriere della sera interview with mr benoit cœure, member of the executive board of the european central bank, in corriere della sera, conducted by mr danilo taino on 7 march 2019 and published on 11 march 2019. * * * at its meeting on thursday, 7 march, the ecb decided to add to the monetary stimulus already in place. what happened? did the extent of the economic slowdown in the euro area take you by surprise? the slowdown didn ’ t come as a surprise. economic activity was exceptionally strong in 2017, thanks to global economic conditions. we knew that euro area growth would adjust towards its potential rate. the slowdown has been stronger than expected and started sooner, which motivated the decisions we took. but those decisions don ’ t represent a turnaround in our policy ; they have been carefully calibrated to this diagnosis. we are adjusting to the new reality rather than reversing our course ; we don ’ t see signs of a recession at present. the ecb staff projections have been revised. they previously envisaged that growth would be consistently above potential, which would have pushed inflation towards our objective of lower but close to 2 %, whereas they now foresee that actual output will be initially equal to or below potential output, which means it will take longer for inflation to reach 2 %. in the event of external shocks, could the ecb go back to buying bonds on the market? we don ’ t see the need. we are still seeing robust economic growth, although it ’ s less strong than before. it will take longer for inflation to reach our objective, but it will get there. we are reacting to the developments we have seen so far, so we will keep rates at zero for longer, we will continue to reinvest payments from maturing securities in our portfolio, and we will grant banks liquidity at favourable conditions provided that they finance the real economy. if you ’ re asking me about another asset purchase programme, all i will say is that this instrument is now part of our toolbox, but it is not needed now. do you think that european governments are pursuing appropriate fiscal policies under the circumstances? it ’ s difficult for a central banker to give detailed advice on fiscal policy, since fiscal policy is a matter for democratically elected governments. what i can say generally is that the current fiscal stance in the euro area as a whole is slightly expansionary and supports

ravi menon : whither asian banking? opening address by mr ravi menon, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the symposium on asian banking and finance, jointly organised by the mas and the federal reserve bank of san francisco, singapore, 28 may 2015. * * * dr john williams, president and ceo, the federal reserve bank of san francisco, distinguished guests, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. and a warm welcome to singapore and to the symposium on asian banking and finance, jointly organised by the mas and the federal reserve bank of san francisco. banking systems have returned to a more stable footing since the global financial crisis. • banks are holding larger capital and liquidity buffers than before. • their return on equity ( roe ) continues to recover. according to a mckinsey survey of the 500 largest banks in the world, their roe averaged 9. 9 percent in the first half of 2014, within a whisker of the long - term average of 10 percent. but these overall numbers mask wide variances in performance across banks and geographies. • banks in emerging asia report average roe of about 15 %. • among advanced economies, us and canadian banks lead the pack with roe of over 9 %, compared to about 2 % for their western european peers. asian banks have strengthened their position since the global financial crisis. when the crisis struck asia in 2008, there were fears of a drying up of trade finance as european banks started deleveraging and cutting back from the region. as it turned out, asian banks stepped in decisively and trade finance volumes recovered strongly. • between 2008 and 2013, trade finance volumes at chinese and hong kong banks have more than doubled while those at indian banks rose more than half over the same period. • eurozone banks have since recovered some of their market share, but the asian banks remain significant players. this afternoon i would like to discuss three key forces that will shape the course of banking and finance in emerging asia over the medium term : • economic growth ; • financial regulation ; and • technological innovation. economic growth let me begin with growth. the near term economic outlook for emerging asia will be shaped by two themes : the ongoing recovery in the g3 economies and the slowdown in the chinese economy. • the underlying growth momentum in the us appears intact despite a disappointing start to the year. bis central bankers ’ speeches • the eurozone is recovering from a double dip recession and financial stresses have abated. • in