smoothly and successfully as the changeover to the euro on 1 january 1999. 3. comments on other activities of the eurosystem as far as the other activities of the eurosystem are concerned, during 2000, the eurosystem continued to devote great attention to the issue of how to improve cross - border retail payment services within the euro area. in pursuit of its policy to act as a catalyst for change, the eurosystem has continued to organise meetings with the european banking sector and payment system industry in order to monitor the progress achieved with regard to the seven objectives defined by the eurosystem. in september last year, the eurosystem published a progress report, which concluded that progress has been achieved in some areas, such as the agreement on standards allowing straight - through processing, the lightening and harmonisation of the balance - of - payments reporting requirements and the establishment of a cross - border low - value payment system by the european banking association. however, in several other areas further progress is needed, in particular with a view to further reducing the level of fees charged to retail customers. therefore, the eurosystem will continue to closely monitor the progress with regard to the fulfilment of its stated objectives in this field. to this end, a new progress report is intended for publication in early 2002. to conclude my opening remarks, let me turn to the annual accounts of the ecb for last year. the ecb made a net profit amounting to eur 1, 990 million, after setting aside an agreed provision of eur 2, 600 million against its large exchange rate exposure. this profit is also net of remuneration amounting to eur 1, 375 million of the claims by the national central banks of the eurosystem on the ecb with respect to the foreign reserve assets that had been transferred to the ecb at the beginning of 1999. in the course of last year, the ecb further increased its number of staff by 209, and it currently employs around 1, 000 staff members from all 15 eu member states. the ecb's budget for 2001 foresees an increase in the number of staff by around 7 % compared with last year. overall, the ecb looks back over the first years of the single monetary policy with satisfaction. developments since the start of monetary union have confirmed that the ecb has chosen a solid and efficient framework for monetary policy. the ecb's monetary policy strategy has offered a robust guide for

ravi menon : monetary authority of singapore at forty welcome address by mr ravi menon, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at mas 40th anniversary dinner, singapore, 28 november 2011. * * * prime minister, lee hsien loong deputy prime minister and chairman mas, tharman shanmugaratnam distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, staff and management of mas are delighted to welcome you to our 40th anniversary celebrations. 1. one. an anniversary is a good time to thank all those who made the journey a successful first, we thank the past leaders and staff of mas 2. economic and financial stability that singapore has enjoyed over last 40 years is result of tireless efforts of generations of mas officers. 3. the pioneers, led by our first chairman, mr hon sui sen, and first managing director, michael wong pak shong, laid the foundations for an integrated central bank and financial regulator while navigating a turbulent global environment – the collapse of bretton woods, global recession, and double - digit inflation. 4. with dr goh keng swee as chairman at the start of the 1980s and mr lim kim san and mr yong pung how as managing directors, mas adopted the exchange rate as the principal tool of monetary policy, at a time when the conventional tools were monetary aggregates and interest rates. 5. under dr richard hu as chairman, and mr j y pillay and mr lee ek tieng as managing directors, mas set about establishing the high standards of financial regulation and supervision that singapore has become known for, while dealing with crises from pan el to barings. 6. the arrival of then deputy prime minister mr lee hsien loong as chairman and mr koh yong guan as managing director in 1998 launched a wide - ranging liberalisation of the financial sector in the midst of the asian financial crisis. 7. and mas built on those reforms while navigating the financial sector through the 2008 / 2009 crisis under the leadership of mr goh chok tong as chairman and mr heng swee keat as managing director. 8. we thank the past management and staff of mas at all levels. they are the unsung heroes who made it all possible. highly professional, and driven by a strong sense of public service, they did not hesitate to do what was right even if it was unpopular. 9. in crisis after crisis – be it the speculative attack on the singapore dollar in 1985 or the global financial crisis in 2008 – staff of