Monetary policy cannot simply wait until we have a clearer understanding of whether we are correctly measuring employment, whether the Phillips curve has shifted down, tilted or both – or whether there is a better framework for understanding the relationship between supply, demand and inflation. 13  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  13  But we are almost certainly going through a period of heightened change at present. The current level of uncertainty around the key assumptions on which we model and understand the economy is, in my view, different in kind to uncertainties about the data or signals we receive which are always mixed. Some of the relationships between economic variables that we depended on in the past appear to have gone on a longish leave of absence, but we are not sure why, or whether this is a temporary or more persistent departure. Against that background – and although it makes forward looking monetary policy more difficult – I tend to put more weight on the evidence we can or cannot see in the data and a little less on the un-observables and on how we think the economy works. In any event, monetary policy makers have a personal reason to be careful of complaining too much about the burden of uncertainty. It is not just that it is one of the things that makes the job challenging and worth doing. It is also why it cannot be done by a rule – or, at least as yet, by a robot.
Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Towards the positioning of Islamic finance as an integrated component of the International Financial System Opening speech by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, at the 5th Annual Islamic Finance Summit, London, 24 January 2006. *  *  *  It is my great pleasure to be here in London to speak at this 5 th Annual Islamic Finance Summit organised by Euromoney. Islamic finance has made significant breakthroughs to now gain a place in today's challenging global environment with its international dimension now becoming increasingly more significant. It has now evolved to become an integral part of the international financial system. As this international financial integration process intensifies, it will not only increase the potential for Islamic finance to contribute towards enhancing the prospects for more balanced global growth through fostering greater trade and wealth creation, but also through facilitating greater diversification of risks, it will contribute towards increased global financial stability. Rapid Evolution of the Global Islamic Financial Services Industry As recent as five years ago, the development of Islamic finance was still regarded as an infant industry striving to prove its viability and competitiveness in the global financial environment. At that time, the growth of Islamic finance was mainly organic and largely concentrated in countries where the Muslim population was significant. Islamic finance was also for the most part governed by conventional regulatory and accounting standards. In addition, the divergence of views on some of the outstanding issues called for greater harmonization.