topics will be discussed, such as the assessment of financial education initiatives and education to ensure the proper use of financial products and services through digital channels. i would like to underline that one of the greatest assets of sharing our experiences at these meetings is the diversity of approaches. though we pursue a common goal, to increase people ’ s financial literacy and inclusion levels and ultimately their well - being, the path to reach that goal may – and certainly will – differ. therefore, it is important for us all to learn about different approaches, take advantage of the diversity of experiences and adapt them to each country ’ s 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches economic, financial and institutional background. the debate on these topics is quite stimulating on account of their complexity, but there is also an especially gratifying side to it because we know how these initiatives can improve the lives of real people. these would be more than enough reasons to look forward to two excellent days working together and sharing. but there is another reason that makes it even more pleasurable : we will do so in portuguese, a language that instantly brings us closer and reminds us that our countries are players in a global world that is also expressed and felt in the rich variations of a language shared by us all. 3. financial inclusion is an essential component of social inclusion, since it leads to a more efficient management of personal finances, and gives people conditions to manage a family budget better, use of payment means more efficiently, make savings using adequate products and be safer when applying for a loan. in fact, one must not forget that financial inclusion also helps fight inequality, a paramount issue in today ’ s economies. mario draghi, president of the european central bank, underlined a few days ago when he met with students at a university in lisbon that inequality is a highly destabilising phenomenon for all areas of society, including financial stability. traditionally, major barriers to financial inclusion are connected to geographical proximity factors, such as low density of credit institutions making it difficult to access the formal financial sector. these barriers lead to the existence of an informal sector that provides competing financial products and services, which though unregulated are more easily accessible. other exclusion factors are high costs of financial services in the formal sector or the credit institutions ’ failure to offer products that meet the needs of consumers with low income / low levels of education. yet, the fact that financial services are increasingly digital brings about new opportunities for promoting financial inclusion, overcoming some of these obstacles

and the banks should be subject to the same prudential regime. in furtherance of this, the bank of mauritius decided to extend several guidelines to this segment and we are soon bringing it under a risk weighted capital adequacy measurement system. there is another important aspect that i need to highlight here. the legislation envisages that we encourage merger of deposit taking institutions among themselves or with banks or even their conversion as banks. the contribution of financial intermediation in the gdp of mauritius has been growing steadily and has gone up from 10. 3 per cent in 2005 to 10. 5 per cent in 2007. it is forecast to be about 10. 8 per cent in 2008. while the specific contribution of leasing is not captured in the data, it is important that leasing also plays a significant role. what is heartening though is that the outstanding lease assets have been growing at a rate of 10 per cent or more over the last five years. if we look at the leasing business of the non - bank deposit taking sector we see that outstanding leases have gone up from rs10. 1 billion in december 2006 to rs11. 5 billion in december 2007 and further to rs12. 6 billion at the end of 2008. while the leasing sector has been growing steadily, there is need for leapfrogging if the sector has to catch up with other segments within the financial intermediation industry. the share of deposits of leasing companies in total deposits declined from 6. 5 per cent in december 2007 to 6. 2 per cent in december 2008. an ifc study identifies financial management skills, access to diversified sources of local currency financing, good governance and performance management framework besides development of a sustainable competitive niche as critical for the growth of the leasing sector. in this context, i would highlight the proper assessment of credit risk and post disbursement management as very critical. delinquencies in the leasing segment are comparatively higher than in the banking sector. now that non - bank deposit taking institutions have access to the mauritius credit information bureau ( mcib ) data base we hope to see tangible improvement in this area. if leasing has to grow fast, it must be cost advantageous too and a lower rate of delinquencies will help operators to keep their margin with a lower spread. before concluding, let me say that i am sure the deliberations of this conference would help identify what needs to be done in the times ahead for the leasing industry to be able to play its role