is only a temporary hiccup in thailand ’ s long record of investment - friendly climate and rapid industrial development. it can be seen as part of a growing pain that developing countries such as thailand experienced as it becomes more developed. on the positive side, it should provide opportunity to forge a closer coordination among related parties and establish a clear process in achieving sustainability of industrial development. as for the second issue, i think, it is too early at this point to put out an exact estimate of its negative impact on the recovery process. should the problem takes time to resolve itself, the negative impact on the economy will become more visible especially on the tourist industry and private consumption. these, together with the severe drought that we have been experiencing thus far, may somewhat dampen the robust economic momentum that we carry forward from the fourth quarter of last year. ladies and gentlemen, i would like to turn to my last topic : thailand ’ s economic policies going forward, starting with our monetary policy strategies in 2010. in the last few months, we have seen slight upward price movement with both headline and core inflation rates turning positive since the fourth quarter of last year. currently, headline and core inflation for february 2010 are at 3. 7 and 0. 3 per cent respectively. the turnaround was due to a combination of the base effects from oil prices and the pick - up in domestic demand. looking ahead, with the firming economic recovery, inflationary pressure is expected to increase further, with core inflation forecasted to surpass the midpoint of our target range of 0. 5 – 3. 0 percent by the end of the year. thus, it is clear that in the near term, policymakers need to perform a delicate balancing act that would at the same time ensure a continued growth momentum, the anchoring of inflationary expectations, and the containment of potential financial imbalances. in light of the solid fourth - quarter gdp figures and january ’ s economic indicators, the current extraordinary accommodative monetary policy stance will be of less need for the thai economy. furthermore, an over - extended period of low interest rates can lead to heightened inflation expectations or financial imbalances such as asset price bubbles, as this crisis has vividly demonstrated in many countries. to this end, the timing of monetary policy normalization will be important so that it will not jeopardize economic recovery particularly as private investment has yet to pick up enough pace. thus, i would like to assure you that,

located in canada. we would also be better placed to manage a crisis and provide emergency liquidity support for a canadian ccp should that be necessary. while cooperative arrangements for oversight and crisis management of offshore ccps can be developed, and are currently being discussed at the international level, this work is still in progress. such arrangements will need to be adequate to enable the bank to fulfill its responsibilities for overseeing and safeguarding the stability of the canadian financial system. a domestic ccp could offer other advantages as well. it could, in some situations, reduce – although certainly not eliminate – the impact on canadian markets of financial shocks from abroad. it could be tailored to the needs of the canadian financial system and support the development of market expertise and innovation. the key questions are whether a domestic ccp would be economically viable and whether it would support financial stability and efficiency. we know that much of the otc market is global in nature and that, for a canadian clearing service for otc interest rate swaps to be a success, wide participation of both canadian and global firms is necessary. without that, the market could become fragmented, market liquidity could decline and the domestic ccp ’ s own risk controls could be undermined. yet another key question is whether a domestic ccp would adequately address the clearing needs of canadian financial institutions. as a related point, a canadian ccp would need to be reasonably cost - effective ; otherwise it could push transactions offshore, undermining its potential benefits. developing links between ccps in different jurisdictions could help to minimize fragmentation of the market. but establishing such links would be a complicated undertaking, and risk within the links would have to be properly managed. in practice, while a few ccp links exist and are in operation ( for cash markets, in particular ), there is not yet a generally accepted model that could be used for the establishment of links among ccps clearing trades in otc derivatives. in assessing the best clearing strategy for canadian otc derivatives, the bank of canada is moving forward on two fronts. first, we are working with our domestic and international counterparts to ensure that global ccps, particularly those of systemic importance to canada, are able to deliver the intended benefits of financial stability. second, we are actively exploring the possibility of developing a canadian - domiciled ccp, in collaboration with the financial industry and other public policy institutions. we must choose the arrangements that best support the stability and efficiency of canada ’ s financial system. conclusion we are