But the ECB has had to take account, too, of domestic demand pressures within the euro area, and of the fact that, even on the core measure, Euro area inflation was moving up gradually to the top of the ECB's 0-2% range. Frankly I don't see how anyone can be confident whether the ECB had it precisely right or wrong - it is perfectly normal for even the best-informed people to disagree on these judgements, as anyone who reads our own Monetary Policy Committee meeting minutes will tell you. But I am wholly confident that the ECB is sensitive to the issues surrounding those judgements, including the downside risks in the US, as indeed it demonstrated a fortnight ago. So, too, are we in the United Kingdom. In our case, we again enjoyed relatively steady overall economic growth through last year, combined with a further fall in unemployment to its lowest rate for over 25 years. Inflation meanwhile continued to run below the Government's 2½% target - and is currently running at around 1½% on the eurozone measure of inflation. This relatively low inflation rate was partly a result of the dampening effect of sterling's surprisingly persistent strength against the euro. The problem for us - and it is a real problem which has been with us for some time now - is the sectoral (and associated regional) imbalance within our overall economy.
The programme has provided 20 students with the opportunity to gain exposure to tech roles in finance that leads to potential employment with the bank. The 12-month programme – double the duration of typical internships – ties in students’ work projects with their final year core curriculum, making their learning more applied and practical. These examples show that with the right support and programmes, polytechnic graduates who are willing to put in their best can succeed in the financial sector. We need more financial institutions to do what JP Morgan, OCBC, and some others are doing. And we need to scale up these efforts. MAS is working with the industry to develop meaningful programmes and support mechanisms to facilitate the hiring of polytechnic graduates by financial institutions. The second group that we’re looking at is mid-career professionals from other sectors who are keen to pivot to the financial sector. This is already happening organically. Take for example Zainon Yussof, who started her career as a customer service officer in the healthcare sector. Last year, she took up a traineeship opportunity offered by BlackRock, a global asset management firm. Zainon learnt to help people plan their financial future and also picked up valuable tech programming skills. Her background in customer service enabled her to address client queries effectively and collaborate with stakeholders to find solutions to problems. This landed her a permanent role, as an analyst with BlackRock’s Aladdin Technology Team. Another example is Edris Boey. Edris started her career as a financial auditor at KPMG.