These challenges are inherent parts of the mega trends, which include the crisis facing western economies and advancing regional economic integration. Currently, Thailand appears to be at a transitional gateway of these mega-trends, where the future looks blurry. The persistent economic slowdown plaguing the advanced economies of  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  United States and Europe leading up to sovereign debt crisis and continued financial system stresses do not yet have a clear resolution in place. Many observers, however, view that after this transitional gateway, Asia will be under the spotlight with China as the new leader, leading the economic expansion for other countries in the region. Despite this optimism, countries in Asia cannot afford to relax, sit back, and enjoy the ride, as economic volatility could arise intermittently via trade and financial channels from western economies. The degree of such impact depends on how well each economy is prepared for the potential disruption. Another aspect of the transitional gateway is the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. This regional integration will bring not only changes in the regional investment and trade landscape, but also changes in people’s attitude as an ASEAN citizen where travel and contact will become more frequent. Nonetheless, we should not view AEC as the final destination, but rather a stepping stone towards enhancing economic resiliency in the region by creating a single ASEAN market and production base.
One is the target variable, in which case I believe we should consider changing to an index upon which policy rate changes do not have such a major direct impact as on the CPI. Another is an interval surrounding the target. The main reason for considering a reintroduction of an interval is the need to constantly remind people that monetary policy is pursued under significant uncertainty and that the Riksbank is not able to fine-tune the economy and inflation. I look forward to continued discussions about these issues. BIS central bankers’ speeches  9  References Dorich, José, Nicholas Labelle, Vadym Lepetyuk and Rhys Mendes (2015), Assessing the Benefits of a Higher Inflation Target. Under publication in Staff Discussion Papers, Bank of Canada. The Economic Commission (1993), “Nya villkor för ekonomi och politik.” (New conditions for the economy and policy) (In Swedish) The Economic Commission's proposal, SOU 1993:16. Flodén, Martin (2015), Sweden needs its inflation target. Speech at Fores, 13 October. Fromlet, Hubert (2015), “Så kan Riksbanken fungera bättre.” (How the Riksbank can work more efficiently) (In Swedish) Svenska Dagbladet Debate, 13 November, http://www.svd.se/ekonom-sa-kan-riksbanken-fungera-battre. Heikensten, Lars and Anders Vredin (2012), “Akademikerna och penningpolitiken” (Academics and monetary policy) (In Swedish). In Per Molander (ed. ), “Kunskapen och makten – om det offentliga beslutsfattandets kunskapsförsörjning” (Knowledge and power – on public decisionmaking knowledge management) (In Swedish) Atlantis, Stockholm. Johansson, Jesper (2015), How is inflation measured? Economic Commentary no. 5, 2015.