Today, I can proudly say that an ever-growing number of financial institutions operate in the North and that these provide diverse financial services, whilst of course we would be the first to admit that a lot more needs to be done. My dear friends, the development and maintenance of essential public infrastructure is an important ingredient for sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. In particular, health, education, electricity, housing and efficient water and sanitation services help lay the groundwork for a productive and healthy population, capable of contributing to sustained economic growth. We all know that as a result of the long and bloody conflict, the infrastructure facilities in the North could not be developed as done in the other Provinces. It is due to that fact that, with a view to fast tracking the development in the North, the Government has now launched a well-planned, integrated, accelerated development program titled “Vadakkin Vasantham.” Under this program, the Government expects to invest approximately Rs. 295 billion $ 2.7 billion) during the next 3 years, towards rehabilitation and development activities. This program is expected to cover the rehabilitation of roads and other transportation infrastructure, the upgrading of electricity for domestic housing and industry, water supply, agriculture and irrigation infrastructure and the improvement of the manufacturing framework. The Government also intends to implement a special poverty reduction program and establish the required social safety net, quickly.

However, vendors often place strong limitations on the sharing of such data with anyone, including among federal agencies, and on the manner in which such data may be used. They also create systems with private identifiers for securities and firms or proprietary formats that do not make it easy to link with other systems. Surely it is important that voluntary contributors of data be able to protect their interests, and that the investments and intellectual property of firms be protected. But the net effect has been a noncompatible web of data that is much less useful, and much more expensive, to both the private and the public sector, than it might otherwise be. Protecting privacy and private-sector property rights clearly are important policy objectives; they are important considerations in the Federal Reserve’s current data collection and safeguarding. Protecting the economy from systemic risk and promoting the safety and  18  BIS Review 16/2010  soundness of financial institutions also are important public objectives. The key issue is whether the current set of rules appropriately balances these interests. In light of the importance of the various interests involved, the Congress should consider initiating a process through which the parties of interest may exchange views and develop potential policy options for the Congress’s consideration. Organization structure for data collection and developing analytical tools In addition to balancing the costs and benefits of enhanced data and analytical tools, the Congress must determine the appropriate organizational form for data collection and development of analytical tools.