but risks on global macro front have increased. 8. mas closely monitoring three key risks in external environment. • first, greece. situation remains highly fluid and uncertain. • • o failure by greek government to implement measures agreed with international creditors could spark renewed market jitters. o could dampen confidence and recovery in wider euro area, with spillover effects on rest of world. second, china. downside risks have increased. o excess capacity in some heavy industries could reduce growth in investment spending more than expected. o further volatility in stock market could undermine consumer confidence and spending. third, the region. o financial conditions could tighten more than expected, as us fed begins to hike interest rates. o this could raise borrowing costs and constrain private spending. inflation 9. singapore experienced negative headline inflation for seven months now. but not facing deflation – price decline neither persistent nor pervasive. temporary factors keeping inflation muted but underlying cost pressures persist. 10. look at headline and core inflation separately. headline inflation at lower half of forecast range in 2015 but should pick up in 2016 11. headline or cpi all - items inflation averaged – 0. 4 % y - o - y in first five months of 2015 compared to 1. 0 % for whole of 2014. cpi all - items inflation likely to continue to be negative for rest of 2015. • for year as whole, cpi - all items inflation expected to come in at lower half of forecast range of – 0. 5 to 0. 5 %. 13. drag on headline inflation from coe premiums and accommodation costs. • car coe premiums currently about $ 62, 000, compared to about $ 68, 000 in h2 last year. bis central bankers ’ speeches • imputed rentals on owner - occupied accommodation are 3 % lower compared to year ago. 14. but headline inflation to pick up in 2016. • effects of lower car prices and housing rentals could start to wear off on yoy basis. • core inflation also expected to rise. core inflation should stay around current level before rising from q4 15. mas core inflation – which excludes accommodation costs and private road transport costs – remains positive. • however, it eased to 0. 8 % in first five months from 1. 9 % last year. • for 2015, core inflation is expected to be in lower half of 0. 5 – 1. 5 % forecast range. 16. core inflation should rise gradually from q4 onwards and reach close to its

, this is about 22, 000 borrowers who need help to manage down their debt. there are measures to help unsecured borrowers pay down their debts 38. banks have worked with credit counselling singapore ( ccs ) to develop a new repayment assistance scheme ( ras ). • convenient one - stop solution for borrower to work out centralised repayment solution with creditors. • lower interest rate of 5 % p. a. over repayment period of 8 years for debt in excess of 12 times a borrower ’ s monthly income. second consumer initiative : facilitate retail access to simple, low cost investment products 39. last year i spoke about how mas was working to improve savings and investment options for retail consumers. made progress on three fronts. • introduced savings bonds for flexible risk - free returns • facilitated access to s $ corporate bonds for stable, long - term returns • expanded etf options for diversified equity returns 40. savings bonds, corporate bonds, and etfs complement existing investment options in the market. • individual investors now better able to form a diversified and balanced portfolio at low cost. introducing savings bonds 41. singapore savings bonds are a special type of singapore government securities ( sgs ) for the individual investor. • like regular sgs, savings bonds offer same long - term risk - free returns. • unlike regular sgs, holders of saving bonds not exposed to price risks when they redeem them early. • savings bonds provide flexibility for investors to get their money back to meet unexpected needs for cash. bis central bankers ’ speeches 42. pleased to announce that first savings bond will be issued on 1 oct 2015. interested investors will be able to apply for this issue from 1 sep. • details of first issue such as amount of bonds available and bond ’ s interest rates will be released when applications open. • a new savings bond will be issued every month for at least next 5 years, so there is no need to rush for first issuance. 43. to help investors understand features of savings bonds and learn how to apply for them, mas has set up dedicated savings bonds website and savings bonds hotline. details will be made available later today. facilitating retail access to s $ corporate bonds 44. bonds are relatively easy to understand, offer stable returns that are typically higher than fixed deposit rates, and are less susceptible to extreme price movements. • many blue chip companies as well as government agencies have issued bonds. 45. but retail participation in corporate bond market has been low.