Concluding remarks During the autumn, the Riksbank has taken measures, together with governments and other central banks, to counteract the confidence crisis that arose in the financial markets in connection with Lehman Brothers filing for bankruptcy. The measures have been taken different forms. The Riksbank has taken part in these measures through both general liquidity support to the Swedish banking sector and special support to Carnegie and Kaupthing Bank, but also through cooperation with other central banks. The Riksbank will continue to contribute liquidity as long as is necessary. BIS Review 149/2008  7  Although the most acute problems in the global financial markets have been counteracted, I consider it slightly surprising that the markets have not normalised to a greater extent than they have. Although the interbank rates have fallen, they are still at a high level in historical terms. The measures implemented by central banks and governments have nevertheless been both extensive and forceful. An important part of the counter-measures implemented by governments and central banks around the world during the autumn has been to ensure that no systemically-important bank is allowed to fail. The financial crisis has meant that the focus has been moved from monetary policy to the efforts made to safeguard financial stability. This is entirely natural. Monetary policy is not an effective tool in preventing financial crisis or in resolving a crisis that has broken out. It has had some impact on financial stability in that the Riksbank's repo rate cuts have helped to push down market rates.
Under the Initiative, a Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility has been set up as a Trust Fund of ADB to provide credit guarantee to allow investment-rated issuers to issue local currency bonds in ASEAN+3 markets. Another good example is the Asian Bond Fund project of the Executives’ Meeting of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks (EMEAP). The launch of the ABF funds introduced to the region’s bond markets a new low-cost and efficient product in the form of passively-managed index bond funds and helped catalyse infrastructure, tax and regulatory reforms at both the regional and domestic levels. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority took an active part in the design and implementation of the project. These efforts, along with the rapid economic growth and improved investment climate, have contributed to considerable growth in the local currency bond markets. According to ADB, the  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  amount of local currency bonds outstanding in emerging East Asia increased by more than ten folds from $ billion prior to the Asian financial crisis in 1996 to $ billion in 2011. We have also seen the interesting development of offshore bond markets. In Hong Kong, the RMB bond market has grown substantially since the first issuance in 2007, with total issuance increased to over RMB 100 billion in 2011 from RMB 10 billion in 2007. The range of issuers has also diversified, from predominantly the sovereign and banks in China to multinational companies and international financial institutions.