These positive developments have been fostered and supported by the pass-through of the ECB’s monetary policy measures, which have significantly eased borrowing conditions for households and firms, notably also for small and medium-sized enterprises. Considering all of the monetary policy measures taken between mid-2014 and October 2017, the overall impact on euro area growth and inflation is estimated, in both cases, to be around 1.9 percentage points cumulatively for the period between 2016 and 2020. Our measures have put the euro area economy on a solid growth pathway, driven by endogenous domestic dynamics and thus more resistant to a potential slowdown in global demand. At the same time, inflation has yet to show more convincing signs of a sustained upward adjustment. After lingering at levels well below 1% for three years, with occasional dips into negative territory, euro area headline inflation has fluctuated between 1.3% and 1.5% since May last year. Annual inflation stood at 1.3% in January. The changes in headline inflation have been driven by movements in the more volatile components, namely energy prices and, to a lesser extent, food prices. Measures of underlying inflation – which we monitor for their information content concerning inflation dynamics – have remained subdued. Inflation excluding energy and food was 1% in January, and has ranged between 0.9% and 1.2% since April 2017. Let me now focus on the factors behind these moderate inflation developments from a longerterm perspective.
My speech today focuses on 3 areas: •  Firstly, I will provide an update on the recent developments in Malaysia’s payment ecosystem and the progress that we have made thus far in accelerating the country’s migration to e-payments;  •  Secondly, I will highlight how JomPAY helps to address the current limitations in online bill payments and how it complements the existing efforts to expand epayment services; and  •  Finally, I will elaborate on the importance of industry-wide collaborative efforts and the role that MyClear and the industry can play in bringing the online bill payments market to greater heights. Recent developments in Malaysia’s payment ecosystem The use of cash and cheques remains prevalent in Malaysia. Malaysia’s cash usage measured by currency-in-circulation (CIC) over GDP was about 6% in 2013, which is 100% higher than the average in advanced economies 1. Likewise, Malaysia’s cheque usage per capita was 6.6 in 2013, which is 33 times higher than that in advanced economies 2. But the recent measures being instituted have shown tangible results. I am pleased to inform you that promising progress has been made since the introduction of the Pricing Reform Framework in May 2013 and the more concerted efforts taken to improve and promote the use of Interbank GIRO (IBG). In 2014, cheque usage declined at a faster rate of 10%, compared to only 3% in 2013. At the same time, the number of IBG transactions increased by 36% in 2014 compared to 19% in 2013.