2nd Financial Sector Blueprint Reinforces Govt Initiatives, Says PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 (Bernama) -- The second 10-year Financial Sector Blueprint will reinforce the government's initiatives to drive Malaysia to become a fully-developed nation by 2020 while keeping the development and growth agenda to be inclusive and sustainable. "The financial system will have a key role in spurring new areas of growth and facilitating our economic transformation," Prime Minister Najib Razak said in the Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM or Malaysia's Central Bank) Financial Sector Blueprint 2011-2020, which was released here Wednesday. He said in charting a clear path that will further broaden and deepen Malaysia's financial system to achieve these objectives, it is paramount that careful attention be accorded to the stability of the financial system given the considerably more complex and challenging environment. Najib said Malaysia's growth potential will also be intrinsically linked to the intensification of regional economic and financial integration. "The financial sector, in facilitating this, will also expand its opportunities for risk diversification," he said. He said the blueprint will position Malaysia to reap the full benefit of the integration. "It further cements Malaysia's leadership in Islamic finance to develop the country as an international Islamic financial centre," he said. Meanwhile, BNM governor, Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, said the blueprint will evolve a financial ecosystem that will further enhance the competitiveness and dynamism of the financial sector. She said this will be reinforced by strategies that will continue to promote inclusive access to financial services; encourage the development of the range of financial institutions, products and markets that will facilitate and drive the development of new domestic sources of growth; and, accelerate Malaysia's regional and international connectivity. "An important part of this will be the internationalisation of Islamic finance and the development of Malaysia as an international Islamic financial centre," she said. Zeti said deep, liquid and efficient financial markets, effective regulation and supervision, and a high degree of market transparency will continue to underpin the financial ecosystem. "This will include the development of new instruments for risk management by businesses and households, more efficient clearing and settlements of cross-border trade and investment, in addition to a strengthened consumer protection framework," she said. She said technology will continue to have a significant role in the offering of a broader range of financial products and services, and enhancing the efficiency of financial transactions through electronic means of payments and delivery channels. In the blueprint, she said, the growth of the financial sector will be firmly anchored to the growth of the real economy. "Equally important is that the quality of growth is balanced, inclusive and sustainable," she said. She said the blueprint also accords priority to the development of talent for the financial industry, a key enabler for the vision for the financial sector to be realised. -- BERNAMA Malaysia