of dubai crude, which is the reference price of thai import cost, before the attack was at the us $ 24 - 25 per barrel level. after the attack, it briefly touched us $ 29 before turning back. how much will the volatile oil price cool down the world economy? these are very difficult questions to answer. they are difficult questions to answer under normal circumstances. but when you take into account the fact that the united states soon will undertake operations against the terrorists, and what events may unfold out of that, these questions become many times much more difficult to answer. i am comforted, however, by the quick actions of financial authorities in all the major countries to try to shore up the situation. the federal reserve acted quickly to set up us $ 90 billion swap facilities with many central banks to facilitate market transactions. ample liquidity was provided by all countries to market participants. swift interest rate cuts were implemented in both the usa and europe. in thailand, what can we do in the face of these uncertainties? i think it is most important, in these times of uncertainty, for the bank of thailand to act as the linchpin to the public policy. we have to set the anchor that stabilizes the economy. it is fortunate that certain elements of our inflation targeting policy has been modified, allowing increased degree of management of the foreign exchange rate which facilitates trade and improves capital flows. the practice which was intended to take care of official reserves while the global economy is slowing down now happens to be the correct policy practice to be further enhanced to cope with addition weaknesses and uncertainties. more careful management of our international reserves is required so that we can fulfil our debt obligations under the imf program, and still be left with a strong and healthy level of reserves. this will be achieved through a vigilant watch on the markets, keeping close dialogue with market participants, gathering intelligence and acting in a timely manner. ladies and gentlemen, i am here today not to give you a false promise that the bot could provide policy measures that could lead to the recovery of the thai economy, but to assure you that our existing policy measures are suitable with the situation and we would do our best not to allow thailand another crisis of similar cause and magnitude as that of 1997. while the bot is assuring a stable environment for private real sector, i will urge the private sector to work harder, to improve their management system and corporate governance, to better learn about their markets, to better control and

glenn stevens : overview of the australian economy and future challenges opening statement by mr glenn stevens, governor of the reserve bank of australia, to the house of representatives standing committee on economics, canberra, 19 february 2010. * * * since we last met the global economy has continued an expansion that started around the middle of 2009. it appears that world gdp grew at an annualised pace of about 4 per cent in the second half of last year. many forecasters now expect a similar result in 2010. international financial markets have generally continued to thaw, with most capital markets functioning again and the use by banks of exceptional support from central banks and government guarantees being wound down. these are, needless to say, very welcome developments. having said that, the situation is not without some challenges. i will mention just two. the first is the two - speed nature of the global recovery. normally after a sharp downturn, the ensuing upswing is correspondingly strong. this has been the case among a number of asia - pacific economies, which take half of australia ’ s exports. the strength is not confined to china : india, korea, singapore, taiwan and others have all seen a significant pick - up in production and trade. in several of these instances the term “ v - shaped recovery ” would be apt. around the region, secularly rising incomes, generally healthy banking systems and relatively low public debt levels allow considerable room for confidence of a sustained expansion in demand. in fact in some cases the issue of overheating is arising and the authorities in both china and india have begun to tighten their policy settings. in the large industrial countries, on the other hand, the rebound has been more tentative, and driven more by the turn in the inventory cycle and temporary policy measures than a strong pick - up in private demand. it is not unusual, at this point of the recovery, for the inventory dynamics to be playing a prominent role in pushing up output. nonetheless, the question is the extent to which a durable upswing in private final demand in the various countries will become established. most observers expect this to be a fairly gradual process, given the lingering effect of the strain on banking systems and ongoing de - leveraging, not to mention the need, at some point, to begin the process of fiscal consolidation. growth in these cases is therefore expected to remain modest and, as a result, these economies are likely to be characterised by a lot of spare capacity and ongoing high unemployment. so the historic shift