As regards fiscal policy, the discussion in the G7 should not just be about increasing spending, it should also be about improving the quality of the budget. The ECB agrees with the idea that “countries that have fiscal space should use it”, but many countries do not have this fiscal space. Reducing unproductive expenditures and cutting taxes or increasing  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  investment in productive infrastructure, such as education and research, can lead to growth without increasing the deficit. What about foreign exchange policy? The UK pound and Japanese yen have been increasing and volatility is very high. What will the G7 do to reduce volatility? The G20 countries have committed not to use the exchange rate for competitive purposes, as confirmed in recent meetings in Shanghai and Washington. All of us should act in a way consistent with this commitment and which does not add to global uncertainty. Emerging markets are slowing down and advanced countries have very low growth rates. What should the G7 and advanced countries do for the world economy? In a low-growth environment globally, there might be a temptation for some countries to grow at the expense of other partner countries. So it is precisely the role of the G7 or the G20 to resist such temptation. There is no “magic bullet” for increasing growth. For the G7, it is crucial to send the message to support domestic demand and focus on those structural policies that will be most conducive to growth.
Such collaborative industry effort in infrastructure sharing would allow the industry to compete directly on product offerings and the quality of services provided, thus providing better value to both consumers and merchants. In this regard, the recent industry-wide initiatives to enhance the payment card infrastructure and to modernise the online bill payments market via JomPAY are commendable and should be sustained. In this respect, I would also like to call upon MyClear and MEPS to jointly embark on payment infrastructure projects and initiatives that would benefit both the industry and the country. Role of MyClear and the industry moving forward Achieving the critical mass in terms of usage and acceptance remains a key priority. In this regard, banks in collaboration with MyClear should take concerted efforts to expand the number of businesses accepting JomPAY, especially among the underpenetrated sectors of SMEs and the federal and state government agencies. This can be done through coordinated media campaigns, workshops, roadshows and other outreach programs. MyClear and the participating banks should target to register 5,000 merchants onto JomPAY by 2020. To educate the public, especially those who are not IT savvy to use JomPAY, MyClear and the banks should also come up with instructional videos and pamphlets to provide the  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  necessary guidance and assistance.