In particular, BELab has been created with the aim of providing the research community with greater access to high-quality microdata, in a controlled environment that ensures data confidentiality, through on-site or remote means depending on the sensitivity of the data. The microdata available at BELab include the Survey of Household Finances, the Survey of  1  Financial Competences, the balance sheet data of non-financial corporations and microdata on loans to legal persons. I would strongly encourage all of you to have a look at these data, because I honestly believe that allowing independent researchers to access high-quality data is a necessary step to enhance our knowledge of the Spanish economy. And this annual conference specifically should be seen as another step in furthering our commitment to research as an indispensable tool for improving economic policymaking, in this case with the focus on understanding and monitoring developments in the Spanish economy as a basis for promoting well founded economic policy decisions. We wish to strengthen our interaction with the research community in this field as a way of better discharging our legal responsibility to provide advice to the Spanish governments on economic policy matters. And related to this responsibility, the annual report of the Bank, that it´s regularly presented to Parliament, offers an analysis of recent developments in the Spanish economy within the global setting, as well as how it is likely to perform in the future and the challenges it faces.
Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus: Value based intermediation - beyond profit Keynote address by Ms Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the Global Islamic Finance Forum 2018 (GIFF) "Value Based Intermediation - Beyond Profit", Kuala Lumpur, 3 October 2018. * * * Henry Ford, credited with revolutionising the American transportation industry in the 20th century, once remarked that “Business must be run at a profit, else it will die. But when anyone attempts to run a business solely for profit and thinks not at all of the service to the community, then also the business must die, for it no longer has a reason for existence”. Nearly a hundred years since, these words of wisdom remain true. Perhaps, even more so now than ever. Indeed, we have witnessed time and again, episodes of excessiveness, and the sole and unchecked pursuit of profits, that have led to global financial crises. The theme of this conference, “Value Based Intermediation – Beyond Profit”, is therefore a fitting reminder of the role of finance, and Islamic finance in particular, in helping build a more resilient and sustainable future. In the past half century, the world economy expanded sixfold, despite experiencing the worst and most expensive financial crisis. Average per capita income more than doubled to about USD11,000, compared to only about USD5,000 in 1967. People are living longer, with better quality of life, greater access to basic necessities, improved health and medical care, and better education.