It would be foolish to declare categorically that the Bank of England has eliminated stigma or moral hazard. But we can say that these regulatory reforms have made it easier for the Bank of England to provide liquidity insurance to solvent institutions. In turn, this has allowed us to increase the availability and flexibility of our liquidity facilities and to give more clarity around the circumstances under which that insurance would be provided. These changes should help to reduce the stigma attached to the use of central bank liquidity facilities, and encourage earlier take-up to limit contagion and protect financial stability during future crises. 4  See Hume (1758). 5  See Carney (2013) and Shafik (2015). 6  See Hauser (2014) and Tucker (2014). 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3. Are sovereigns like banks? Attention more recently has turned to sovereign rather than banking vulnerabilities and two issues in particular have brought this into sharper focus. First, do fundamentally sound emerging market economies have access to the right form of liquidity insurance to deal with the challenges posed by lower growth, falling commodity prices and potential spillovers from the possible exit of exceptional monetary policy in advanced economies? And second, how can we manage the tension between the need to recognise when one sovereign’s debt has become unsustainable and the need to avoid contagion across countries in times of stress? There are many ways in which sovereigns are like banks in terms of the liquidity risks they face.
This, in turn, will mobilise more public and private sector investments through co-financing and greatly enhance the support available to developing members. We are also glad to see that governments are working together and making significant steps in promoting infrastructure development. They include, for instance, the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the G20 Global Infrastructure Initiative and Global Infrastructure Hub. These initiatives underscore the commitment by governments from within and outside the region to give infrastructure investment a fresh impetus. By bringing new funds and new ways for development assistance, they will serve to complement the existing efforts by ADB in meeting the region’s vast development needs. As highlighted in the theme for this year’s Annual Meeting, fostering cooperation among development partners – existing and new, private and public, national and multilateral – is crucial for reaping synergy and maximising development impact. ADB has a hailed tradition of cooperating with other partners in delivering results. By working together, we believe that ADB and its partners in the region will go a long way in mobilising funds and building the capacity of developing members in delivering high-quality infrastructure projects. As an international financial and business centre in the region, Hong Kong, China has an active role to play in supporting and promoting infrastructure investment in Asia. Corporates, as well as national and multilateral development agencies including ADB and IFC, have been making extensive use of Hong Kong, China’s deep financial markets in raising funds for infrastructure projects.