Actually, if this phenomenon occurs within a context of sudden drops in the copper price or costlier external financing, difficult adjustments could be necessary. The current macroeconomic scenario poses significant risks, demanding policy responses in different directions. On one hand, although so far its effects have been mild, the external situation is severe. Chile is a small economy, commercially and financially open,  6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  so it will not be immune to global developments. The probability of extreme events has not diminished, and their materialization could have very severe consequences on output around the world, including Chile. On the other hand, the strength of domestic demand and output, together with recent increases in some commodity prices, means that medium-term inflationary risks remain present. The MPR is within a range of values that are considered neutral, providing flexibility to wait for the concrete effects of such scenarios on the Chilean economy to become visible. The Board monitors closely the evolution of the external and internal macroeconomic scenario and its implications on inflation, and reiterates its commitment to conduct monetary policy so that projected inflation stands at 3% over the policy horizon. Allow me some final remarks. Final remarks Our latest presentations to the Senate have been marked by periods of high volatility or relative calm in international financial markets.
Even though many countries including Thailand have been affected by financial crises and regulatory reforms, we are currently in the stage of revival with high potential growth among ASEAN countries. According to the IDC Financial Insights’ observation on key structural shifts, trends of financial institution sector are: expansion of banking industry, particularly, in South Asia and Southeast Asia due to an escalation of financial inclusion and new-entry of financial players; technology refresh to serve with more sophisticated financial products and services; and regional integration (AEC) and the growth of Asian insurance business. These are paths to higher competition among banks, in which, IT innovation is a key to distinguish each brand. Undoubtedly, banks and related parties invest more in IT projects to advance their services responding to digital era. To be more specific, we have to admit that we live in the world of digitization with an escalation of Internet users and Y generation. Consequently, this group of people becomes a new targeted customer group for banks. Interests in higher conveniences of services which result from high integral digital environment and multi-task lifestyle of the people prompt banks to respond with “Virtual Banking Concept” – any interaction with a bank happens online instead of face-to-face meet up at a branch. To illustrate, the numbers of Internet and mobile banking users have grown up recently as well as volume and value of transactions via such systems.