area periphery countries and in the uk uk private sector swung sharply into surplus when the crisis hit but now back close to balance … ( a ) nominal house price indices. source : oecd. source : eurostat ( esa 95 definitions ). chart 3 : chart 4 : … while irish private sector surplus endures aggregate euro area debt has not fallen relative to gdp since 2007 non - financial private sector general government other ( incl rest of world ) net saving per cent of gdp - 20 - 30 source : eurostat ( esa 95 definitions ). - 40 net borrowing - 10 source : buttiglione, l, lane, p, reichlin, l and reinhart, v ( 2014 ) “ deleveraging, what deleveraging? ”, geneva reports on the world economy, 16, centre for economic policy research. bis central bankers ’ speeches chart 5 : chart 6 : net migration ( a ) from ireland overwhelmingly to economies outside the euro area since the crisis risk - sharing in emu substantially lower than in canadian, us and german federal systems ( a ) cumulative net migration between 2009 – 14 from ireland by destination. source : central statistics office of ireland. source : imf – toward a fiscal union for the euro area, technical background notes ( september 2013 ). based on hepp and von hagen ( 2012 ) for germany ; asdrubali, sorensen and yosha ( 1998 ) for the us ; balli, basher and rosmy ( 2011 ) for canada ; and afonso and furceri ( 2008 ) for the emu and eu. chart 7 : rest of the world now borrowing from the euro area as a whole source : eurostat ( esa 95 definitions ). bis central bankers ’ speeches table 1 : general and central government expenditure as a % of gdp general government expenditure, % of gdp central government expenditure, % of gdp australia austria belgium canada czech republic denmark estonia finland france germany greece hungary iceland ireland israel italy japan korea luxembourg mexico netherlands norway poland portugal slovak republic slovenia spain sweden switzerland turkey united kingdom united states source : oecd notes : table shows ratios of nominal government expenditure to nominal gdp for 2010. bis central bankers ’ speeches

vulnerable segments of the population – the elderly and the illiterate, or the cashstrapped, who may fall easy prey to get - rich - quick schemes. i believe that with the collective partnership of all industry participants, individuals and regulators, we can preserve the credibility and reputation of singapore as an insurance hub. initiative the second value is initiative. as part of a national effort to raise the level of skills and competencies of singapore ’ s financial sector workforce, the fics was established to benchmark competency standards of financial professionals to international best practices. i congratulate ge life for taking the initiative to become the first insurer to be successfully accredited for its assessment capabilities in underwriting, relationship management and claims handling under the fics. ge life ’ s agency force also forms the first batch of candidates who have successfully attained fics certification in the insurance industry. involvement the third value is involvement. the fics awards reflect a whole - of - company involvement. at the company level, the fics accreditation status recognizes ge life ’ s commitment to benchmark the competencies of its workforce to international best practices. at the staff level, the fics certification status helps promote individual attainment of the standards of professional competency and fair dealing in the insurance marketplace. we hope that ge life will continue to keep up the momentum to participate in industry - wide efforts to raise the professionalism in the industry. we hope that we will catalyse a whole - of - industry involvement in this fics effort. conclusion i am therefore delighted this afternoon to present the fics accredited assessment service provider award to ge life. it is both a celebration of your achievements over the last 100 years, and an affirmation of your commitment to continued excellence, building on the core values that have served you so well. may i also congratulate the 12 pioneer candidates who are awarded fics certification today. the industry looks to you to uphold the high standards of personal integrity, competency and professional conduct expected of all agents. on this note, i congratulate mrs fang ai lian and the staff of ge life on this happy day, and wish you greater success for the next 100 years to come.