financial ecosystem. a strong and dynamic workforce will be one of the important pillars for the industry to remain stable and competitive. it will also serve as a catalyst to spur innovation. in terms of talent demand for the overall financial sector, it is anticipated that over the next 10 years, a workforce of about 200, 000 employees would be required, which is an increase of 56, 000 people from the current 144, 000 employees. there will therefore be strong demand across the financial sector, particularly for specialised skills in high growth and niche areas such as wealth management, shariah advisory, corporate finance and investment advisory services. bis central bankers ’ speeches human capital development as key growth area in malaysia, several dedicated institutions for human capital development in islamic finance have been established. contributions by tertiary education institutions, training and research institutions, and private training providers have been important to the development of professionals and expertise in islamic finance. there are now more than 5, 800 students enrolled in islamic finance related academic courses in malaysian higher learning institutions. the international centre for education in islamic finance ( inceif ), established in 2006 to develop qualified professionals in islamic finance, has now produced 265 chartered islamic finance professional holders ; while approximately 2, 000 students from more than 75 countries are currently enrolled at different stages of completion of the islamic finance programs. in terms of industry training, ibfim has to date trained 32 percent of the total islamic finance industry workforce. critical components in talent development strategies the vision moving forward for human capital development in islamic finance is to ensure a steady stream of competent and versatile talent to support greater innovation and dynamism of the islamic finance industry. this will require the approach to be comprehensive, meeting the highest standards and in close collaboration with the industry so that the learning solutions will continue to remain relevant. the breadth of talent development solution human capital development needs to be comprehensive and holistic in meeting the requirements for all levels. the horizon of talent development solutions has to be widened towards attracting, developing and retaining talents with required skills and expertise for the industry. it must also meet the specific requirements of the workforce career progression, from the pre - employment stage, during employment and up to the leadership positions. talent development solutions must also be for beyond the circle of the financial services community, to include other business communities, such as legal fraternity, government officials and it solution providers. the advancement of the industry is also dependent on these parts of the private and public sector. their training needs must also be met through structured training

its utmost vigilance. in particular, we are taking into account the potential price pressures of excessive volatility in the foreign exchange market. while we believe that our fundamentals remain solid and healthy, sustained pressures on the peso could adversely affect inflation expectations. further, some demand side pressure may also be already feeding into inflation. all of these warrant a firm and timely monetary response. therefore, let me say that the bsp is considering strong follow - through monetary adjustment at the next meeting of the monetary board in august. the pace and magnitude of policy tightening will necessarily be dependent on our comprehensive and rigorous assessment of all relevant data and forecasts. this is consistent with our long - standing disciplined approach to inflation targeting. we stand by our primary mandate of promoting price stability conducive to a balanced and sustainable growth of the economy. in a moment, we will provide you with a more detailed discussion of the factors behind the monetary board ’ s recent decisions and its assessment of price and output conditions. also, we will have a brief discussion of the results of the bsp ’ s latest quarterly loan officers ’ survey. we look forward to your questions at the end of these two presentations. thank you and good morning. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches