10  BIS Review 76/2009  Figure 7 Distribution of growth projection for 2009 (*) United States  -2.0 -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 Jan. 08 Jan. 09  0.0  Chile  0.5  -1.3  1.0  -0.8  -0.3  May 07/Aug.08 Jan./May 09  Sep. 08 May. 09  0.2  0.7  Sep./Dic.08  (*) For the United States, minimum (maximum) point of each curve shows the difference between the lowest (highest) projection and the median. For Chile, the difference between decile 1(9) and the median. Sources: Consensus Forecasts and Economic Expectations Survey of the Central Bank of Chile. Figure 8 Consumers' and entrepreneurs' perception indexes 90  140  70  70  70  120  60  60  50  100  50  50  30  80  40  40  10  60  30  30  86  92  IPEC (1)  98  02  04  06  08  U. de Chile (2)  04  05  06  Total IMCE(3)  07  08  09  Excl. mining (4)  (1) Values above (below) 50 points indicate optimism (pessimism). Before January 2003, the index was published quarterly. From then on, its publication is monthly. (2) Index, March 2001 = 100. (3) Values above (below) 50 points indicate positive (negative) expectations. (4) Weighted average of three sector confidence indicators: manufacturing Industry, retail and construction. Sources: Adimark, Universidad de Chile and ICARE/Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez.
This seemed a contradiction in terms to many countries – liberalising and opening up but at the same time developing resilience in the financial centre. But we have achieved both. We have managed the tension between liberalisation and developing resilience. I think we’ve managed it rather well. If you look at what happened during the Asian Financial Crisis and subsequently, the Global Financial Crisis, we have come out as one of the safest financial systems in the world. So that was an important third phase – liberalising and opening the financial centre but also developing further resilience. Our credibility today rests on each of these three major phases in MAS’ development and policies – from the foundational years, to the period when we reoriented monetary policy and then in the last phase, liberalising and developing further resilience of the financial centre. The credibility has added up over the years. I also want to say that MAS has become an organisation of excellence. This has particularly been due, in my opinion, to the organisational development efforts that began especially in the mid-1980s, when Mr JY Pillay came in as the Managing Director, followed in subsequent years by Mr Lee Ek Tieng. There was a great focus on organisational development from the mid-80s. It happened that both Mr Pillay and Mr Lee Ek Tieng were amongst the most senior leaders in the public sector. They led the transformation of the MAS as an organisation of people.