At the  BIS Review8/2007  11  same time, to enhance the scope of operations of money changers, they will be granted approval to encash Travellers' Cheques from 2007 onwards. As is being done internationally, a close cooperation will also be maintained among all relevant supervisory and regulatory institutions to facilitate the supervision and regulation of financial conglomerates. In this regard, a Working Group of Regulators for Financial Conglomerates comprising the Central Bank, Insurance Board of Sri Lanka, Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board and the Department of Registrar of Companies has already been established to develop a mechanism of monitoring the systemic risk of conglomerates. In the meantime, the Payment and Settlement Policy has already been drafted in consultation with the National Payment Council, to mitigate risks and increase efficiency. The proposed policy will be implemented during 2007-2010. A local SWIFT Service Bureau will be set up in 2007 to provide a common connectivity point for users to communicate with SWIFTNet from the Disaster Recovery Site. The coverage of the Wide Area Network will be expanded by including the Primary Dealers to resolve the remaining problems relating to registering all investor transactions in the Securities Depository of the Central Bank. This will further enhance the safety of investments in the government securities market. The Central Bank will permit Primary Dealers to diversify their business into certain activities and within limits, with appropriate regulatory and prudential safeguards.

Savings are encouraged by strengthening the financial system and delivering positive real interest rates through appropriate monetary policy measures. The Central Banks’ contribution to promoting investment will be somewhat indirect and will mainly arise from the business confidence that would be generated as a result of maintaining low inflation and minimising the macroeconomic risks. Currently, the Central Bank managed Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) plays a significant role in supplying both equity and debt capital to the private sector as well as the Government, while generating optimum long term returns for members. The Central Bank will continue to fulfill this role and supply equity and debt capital in 2007 by carefully evaluating investment opportunities and a gradual diversification of investments. In addition, the service provided to the presently active two million members will be enhanced through a comprehensive reengineering programme of the EPF by fully automating its operations, using electronic means to update the member accounts in real time. The Central Bank will also actively explore the possibility of introducing a unified voluntary contributory social security scheme for over three million informal sector workers. This will provide a social security to these workers, while generating large scale savings and funds for investment as well. BIS Review8/2007  13  In keeping with the vision of the Central Bank, access to finance by all segments of the population will be improved through continued development of the finance sector.