The great financial crisis of 2007-08 and the recession have generated active debate on the role of financial systems on the real economy. In particular, central banks have shown increased interest in how financial systems can evolve to maximise their contribution to the real economy. Many Asia-Pacific economies have also experienced a rapid growth in household debt since the crisis.

Against this background, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) co-hosted a research conference on "Financial systems and the real economy" on 16-18 October 2016 in Kuala Lumpur. The event was the wrap-up conference of a research programme of the BIS Representative Office for Asia and the Pacific that had been approved by the Asian Consultative Council of central bank Governors in February 2015. The conference brought together senior officials and researchers from central banks, international organisations and academia.

Papers presented at the conference covered macroprudential policies and firm financing; household credit, growth and inequality; capital structure in emerging Asia; foreign banks and credit conditions in emerging market economies; household credit and the effectiveness of monetary and macroprudential policies in Asia-Pacific; and household indebtedness and debt repayment capacity. This volume is a collection of the speeches, papers and prepared discussant remarks and panel remarks from the conference.