with the aim of harming business confidence. just as i said 18 months ago, i assure you that there will be no devaluation as our foreign reserves position will be stable over the medium term. on inflation, i am pleased to highlight that price pressures are currently subdued with inflation averaging – 2. 4 percent in the first nine months of this year. we expect inflation to remain in the negative territory into mid - 2021. the reserve bank has maintained a system flush with liquidity to create an accommodative financial environment conducive to investment and supportive of recovery. liquidity in the banking system surpassed the $ 1 billion mark for the first time ever in august and has since hovered above $ 900 million placing downward pressure on interest rates and banks ’ cost of funds. the rbf will ensure that liquidity remains ample and we stand ready to inject more should the need arise. the outlook for the reserve bank ’ s twin monetary objectives of low inflation and adequate foreign reserves remains intact, although the extended border closure poses a key downside risk for domestic economic recovery going forward. our financial system is sound, well capitalised and profitable coming into this crisis and we are in a reasonably good position to cushion any related shocks. supporting economic growth in light of the ongoing global travel restrictions, we continue to strategise and plan for steering the economy forward as we await news of progress on vaccines and other solutions. during these times, we are encouraged by investors like bsp life who are not holding back on their plans and continue to display the confidence required for our economy to quickly recover. this is a time when fiji needs good investments to assure of our sustainability and economic viability going forward. in our industry visit to the west last week, it was reassuring to note the plans for over 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches $ 0. 5 billion in investments earmarked for the nadi / lautoka corridor. for large investors with sufficient cash flow, it makes sense to invest now, as the economic slack and ample system liquidity have placed downward pressure on construction, labour and interest costs. additionally, the recent incentives introduced by government in the 2020 – 21 national budget such as the reduction in taxes and elimination of stamp duties are an important catalyst for the private sector to press on with their plans for expansion. bsp life ’ s recent investments such as the refurbishment of sofitel ( $ 46m ), the voivoi commercial development acquisition ( $ 33

intermediation during periods of stress. cyclical macroprudential goals motivate regulatory and supervisory tools that “ lean against the wind ” in good times and “ lean into the wind ” during stress, such as the countercyclical capital buffer, the design of stress test scenarios, and time - varying loan - to - value restrictions, which are imposed in some countries. the macroprudential objectives of the scap reflected both structural and cyclical concerns. the primary goal was to ensure that large banks had sufficient capital to withstand an even - worsethan - expected economic downturn and still be able to lend — a structural perspective. each of the 19 banks was required to raise additional capital if the stress tests indicated a shortfall relative to the supervisory target. however, the scap ’ s objectives also embodied cyclical concerns, namely, to provide confidence that banks could continue current lending ( “ leaning into the wind ” ) and thus reduce the likelihood of a worse - than - expected economic outcome. in the paper, we identified six elements that we argued made the scap a successful macroprudential exercise : comprehensiveness ; consistency ; multiple, independent estimates ; diverse perspectives ; transparency of process and results ; and clear and predictable goals and actions. today i will use these elements to talk about the current supervisory stress testing regime and assess whether it continues to address macroprudential objectives. i should note that my focus today is on the broad structure of supervisory stress testing and not on any specific set of stress test results. as you know, the 2018 dfast results were released yesterday and the corresponding ccar results will be released next week. i am not going to discuss these results or draw any inferences from them. comprehensiveness let me start the discussion with the first of the elements : comprehensiveness. as noted, the set of banks participating in the scap accounted for a large portion of the assets and loans in the u. s. banking industry and spanned nearly all significant banking industry activities. in 2009, we argued that this comprehensiveness was essential in achieving the scap ’ s macroprudential goals as the collective stress test results provided a view into a large share of the industry. more important, through the subsequent capital raises, the scap helped ensure that this large segment was sufficiently well capitalized to provide a buffer to the broader economy against possible future bad outcomes. after the scap, the dodd - frank act expanded the set of banking companies subject to supervisory