Ultimately, whether we transform and succeed will depend on our finance professionals taking ownership of their own professional development. IBF will continue to introduce new platforms to help our finance professionals do just this. IBF has recently launched the MySkills Portfolio. This is an online tool which can be a useful resource for individuals to plan and manage their learning. MySkills Portfolio allows individuals to track their training progress and receive programme recommendations based on their training goals. It also functions as a repository of training records. Most of all, IBF is about building a community. Today we celebrate our latest cohort of IBF Fellows and Distinguished Fellows. These individuals have contributed their time and expertise, not just on policy ideas, but also as speakers, trainers and mentors to our young finance professionals. All of you compete vigorously when it comes to business – and that is good. But together we have created something unique here in Singapore’s financial sector: a shared vision for building up our capabilities; working towards the greater good; looking out for one another and bringing people along. And we must bring our people along. This is what will help ensure that our financial sector grows from strength to strength; that we create good job opportunities for Singaporeans; that we build up skills and raise standards across the industry; and that all those who work in the industry enjoy the fruits of growth. Thank you once again for your strong support, and I wish everyone an enjoyable evening.
Finally, low potential growth can have a direct impact on the tools available to monetary policy, as it increases the likelihood that the central bank runs into the lower bound and has to resort recurrently to unconventional policies to meet its mandate. The euro area’s weak long-term performance also provides an opportunity. Since many economies are distant from the frontier of best practice, the gains from structural reforms are easier to achieve and the potential magnitude of those gains is greater. There is a large untapped potential in the euro area for substantially higher output, employment and welfare. And the fact that monetary policy is today at the lower bound, and the recovery still fragile, is not, as some argue, a reason for reforms to be delayed. This is because the short-term costs and benefits of reforms depend critically on how they are implemented. If structural reforms are credible, their positive effects can be felt quickly even in a weak demand environment. The same is true if the type of reforms is carefully chosen. And our accommodative monetary policy means that the benefits of reforms will materialise faster, creating the ideal conditions for them to succeed. It is the combination of these demand and supply policies that will deliver lasting stability and prosperity. ***  In every press conference since I became ECB President, I have ended the introductory statement with a call to accelerate structural reforms in Europe.