) ; effective collaboration that breaks away from working in silos ; and an appropriate level of risk - taking that is compatible with a more agile and responsive organisation. and so we have taken pains to be specific and deliberate in our approach to building a digital culture within the bank. this starts with being clear across the organisation on our tolerance for higher risks associated with disruptive innovations – through the development and communication of our digital risk appetite. we are shifting conversations on new digital initiatives away from the technical solutions themselves, to a greater focus on the business process transformations that they are intended to serve, and that is what we measure and track. we are also investing heavily in equipping our people with the knowledge, skills and confidence to make sound judgment calls in an environment where the pace of change is occurring at a dizzying speed, and our ability to anticipate risks is likely to be more constrained. at a practical level, this means being more precise about escalation, decision and communication protocols, while allowing more flexibility in internal policies to allow business lines to respond swiftly to emerging situations. it also means allowing more dynamic structures to evolve within the organisation to support specific strategic business use cases, such as our cloud centre of excellence. in an era of disruption, efforts to reduce the complexity of financial products and services to the average person could become more challenging. a key reason for this is the dramatically increased access to financial solutions for people from every walk of life, whether they are suited for them or not. to reap the promise that such access brings of opportunities to reduce inequality and improve standards of living, it is imperative that individuals are sufficiently confident and capable of making wise financial decisions. this brings me to the fourth strategic priority of the bank – which is building financial capability among the malaysian public to navigate opportunities and risks in the changing financial landscape. it has long been our conviction that encouraging a population that is both financially and digitally literate is a necessary and vital condition to harness the full potential of fintech and contain its risks. to that end, the government recently launched malaysia ’ s national strategy for financial literacy which includes a specific focus on helping consumers protect themselves against fraud and exploitation, and embrace innovation more confidently in the digital era. in the area of remittances, our work to improve conditions for the use of formal remittance channels by leveraging on technology, particularly by workers and small businesses across the country, has led to substantial reductions in the cost of remittances.

tripled from 2002 to 2004, but they actually fell a bit last year as production disruptions in a number of countries limited supply and as consumers in other countries competed for available cargoes. thus, natural gas prices are likely to remain elevated for at least the coming few years. it is possible, however, that within a decade new supplies from previously untapped areas of north america could boost available output here, while imports of lng will increase to more substantial levels as countries seek to bring their isolated natural gas reserves to market. given time, these developments could serve to lower natural gas prices in the united states significantly. nonetheless, because of the higher costs of producing these supplies relative to the traditional sources of natural gas, as well as the elevated cost of other energy sources such as oil, natural gas prices seem unlikely to return to the level of the 1990s. thus, the supply - demand fundamentals seem consistent with the view now taken by market participants that the days of persistently cheap oil and natural gas are likely behind us. the good news is that, in the longer run, we have options. i have already noted the scope for improvements in energy efficiency and increased conservation. considerable potential exists as well for substituting other energy sources for oil and natural gas, including coal, nuclear energy, and renewable sources such as bio - fuels and wind power. given enough time, market mechanisms are likely to increase energy supplies, including alternative energy sources, while simultaneously encouraging conservation and substitution away from oil and natural gas to other types of energy. economic and policy implications of increased energy prices what are the economic implications of the higher energy prices that we are experiencing? in the long run, higher energy prices are likely to reduce somewhat the productive capacity of the u. s. economy. that outcome would occur, for example, if high energy costs make businesses less willing to invest in new capital or cause some existing capital to become economically obsolete. all else being equal, these effects tend to restrain the growth of labor productivity, which in turn implies that real wages and profits will be lower than they otherwise would have been. also, the higher cost of imported oil is likely to adversely affect our terms of trade ; that is, americans will have to sell more goods and services abroad to pay for a given quantity of oil and other imports. for the medium term at least, the higher bill for oil imports will increase the u. s. current account deficit, implying a greater need for foreign financing. under the assumption