Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Roadmap of financial integration for Malaysia and ASEAN – what can business expect? Speech by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the Asean Business Club Corporate Networking Lunch “Roadmap of financial integration for Malaysia and ASEAN – what can business expect?”, Kuala Lumpur, 1 December 2014. *  *  *  In this more challenging global economic and financial environment, ASEAN economies have demonstrated the ability to weather the turbulent storms experienced in this decade. The ASEAN economies have essentially benefitted from the payoffs from our earlier economic and financial restructuring and reforms. Our potential is now being further enhanced by steps to intensify our regional economic and financial integration. In particular, the region has taken the opportunity during our period of growth and stability within this decade to pursue regional financial integration. It is my honour to be invited today to this distinguished gathering of corporate leaders organised by the ASEAN Business Club to speak on the subject of financial integration in ASEAN. My remarks today will touch on our motivation for pursuing regional financial integration, the benefits to be gained from advancing this agenda and the different approach that is being adopted by ASEAN in comparison to that which has been pursued by Europe. I will also discuss the progress and future direction of this integration process, its future direction and the opportunities that this integration process will provide to the business community.
On the other side, the external sector of the economy continued to be characterized by the deepening of current account deficit, which in annual terms, increased by 48 percent in the third quarter of 2008 to about 252 million euros. As a share of GDP it accounted for 13.7 percent which is about 5 percentage points higher than the same period the previous year. In addition to the trade deficit widening, the deepening of current deficit was also triggered by the narrowing of the positive balance of revenues and current transfers’ account. Its stability is imperative to ensure Albania’s financial stability and a stable and long-term economic growth. Therefore, the dynamics in the balance of payments developments remains an area which needs constant monitoring by the Bank of Albania. Monetary indicators had a stable performance in the second half of 2008, although the end of the period showed signs of their downward growth rates. Average annual growth rate of money supply was about 13 percent. A small part of deposits were withdrawn from the  2  BIS Review 29/2009  banking system in the last months of 2008 as a result of depositors’ concerns following the vague situation in the global financial system. In relative terms, these withdrawals made up a small share in commercial banks’ balance sheets and did not affect the banking system’s soundness indicators or impair its financial intermediation role. Credit to the private sector continued to provide the main contribution to money growth.