This need not be the case. 17. Let us in Singapore together build a financial industry:    that is economically purposeful: generating real value-added and good jobs    that is socially redeeming: creating opportunities for individuals and enterprises; and    that is ethically sound: acting with integrity at all times. Finally, we thank our international partners 18. At our genesis in 1971, we had no experience in central banking or financial supervision. We learnt much from other central banks – like the Bank of England, Bank Negara Malaysia, and the Reserve Bank of Australia. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  19. The IMF seconded to MAS a generous array of advisers, from whom we learnt core skills in banking supervision and economic research. I still recall the IMF’s Article IV Consultations of twenty years ago, when I was a young economist in MAS. To many of us, they were the best tutorials in macroeconomic analysis that we have ever had. 20. Being part of the community of central bankers at the BIS was another way in which we learnt from the rest of the world. We continue to benefit to this day from the collegial spirit of Basel, working together to craft international standards, and co-operating in cross border supervision. Conclusion 21.
Ravi Menon: Monetary Authority of Singapore at forty Welcome address by Mr Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, at MAS 40th Anniversary Dinner, Singapore, 28 November 2011. *  *  *  Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman MAS, Tharman Shanmugaratnam Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Staff and management of MAS are delighted to welcome you to our 40th anniversary celebrations. 1. one. An anniversary is a good time to thank all those who made the journey a successful  First, we thank the past leaders and staff of MAS 2. Economic and financial stability that Singapore has enjoyed over last 40 years is result of tireless efforts of generations of MAS officers. 3. The pioneers, led by our first Chairman, Mr Hon Sui Sen, and first Managing Director, Michael Wong Pak Shong, laid the foundations for an integrated central bank and financial regulator while navigating a turbulent global environment – the collapse of Bretton Woods, global recession, and double-digit inflation. 4. With Dr Goh Keng Swee as Chairman at the start of the 1980s and Mr Lim Kim San and Mr Yong Pung How as Managing Directors, MAS adopted the exchange rate as the principal tool of monetary policy, at a time when the conventional tools were monetary aggregates and interest rates. 5.