3  The slow decline in consumption is consistent with a recent rebound in employment and reduced local political and economic uncertainty. Developments in the global economy, prior to the banking turmoil, operated in the same direction. Thus, seasonally adjusted, recent months have seen an increase in employment, especially salaried jobs, which has contributed to a slight rebound in the wage bill. Indicators of domestic uncertainty have declined significantly, approaching the levels observed prior to the October 2019 social outbreak. The slower adjustment in consumption also coincides with an increase in revolving consumer credit flows, which reflects a greater use of credit lines and credit cards (figure 5). In contrast with consumption, investment has been performing poorly for several quarters. The revision to the National Accounts also shows that, seasonally adjusted, the level of gross fixed capital formation has been stagnant since mid-2021. This is consistent with the increase in the cost of credit; for some quarters access to long-term financing was severely constrained; and business expectations deteriorated amid high local political-economic uncertainty. Some of these factors have eased their importance in recent months (figure 6). As for the current account deficit, in the last quarter of 2022 it showed a significant decrease, and partial first quarter data suggest that this trend will continue. Considering the data for the end of 2022, the cumulative deficit for the last four quarters narrowed to 9%of GDP (10% in the third quarter).

Ajith Nivard Cabraal: Importance of corporate governance for the banking and financial sector Keynote address by Mr Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at the 9th South Asia Management Forum, Dhaka, 24–25 February 2007. *  *  *  What is governance and why have governance? Governance may be said to be all about effective, transparent and accountable administration of affairs of an institution by its management, while protecting the interests of its stakeholders including shareholders, creditors, regulators and the public. Modern Corporate Governance practices have evolved over time and different codes of best practice on Corporate Governance have been developed by various organisations. E.g. the OECD code of Corporate Governance, the Basel code of Corporate Governance for banks and financial institutions, etc. At the same time, several fundamental Corporate Governance Principles have now evolved and have received worldwide acceptance, and guidelines under each such principle have been comprehensively developed by Corporate Governance activists, practitioners, researchers, and others. These principles generally relate to the responsibilities of the Board, Directors, Chairmen, CEOs, senior management, Board appointed committees, auditors, shareholders and regulators. Accountability, internal controls, related party transactions, conflicts of interest, information disclosures have also been extensively dealt with and targeted in the formulation of these principles. Corporate Governance principles had its origins in the 19th century although the term Corporate Governance itself came into vogue in the latter part of the 1980s.