of ups and downs. despite the trying years of late, i would like to thank the board and its management for its perseverence. the fact that fijicare continues to operate today is testament to their resilience and continued confidence in our economy. the fiji economy ladies and gentlemen, please allow me say a few words about our economy. the overall economic expansion for this year is expected to remain above 2 percent, largely driven by the continued growth in consumption and investment related activity. this is evident through higher vat collections, sales of new vehicles, private sector credit and value of work put in place as well as domestic cement sales. however while there is ongoing buoyancy in domestic demand, there are obvious risks on the external front given the recent downward revisions in global growth. despite the increasing global uncertainty, our monetary policy objectives remain at comfortable levels. inflation continues on a general downward trend and is expected to fall further to 3. 5 percent by the end of the year. this is driven by lower prices for food and stability in oil prices. foreign reserves are currently around $ 1. 6 billion, or sufficient to cover 5. 0 months of retained imports of goods and non - factor services. given the slowing of the global economy and a stable outlook for our foreign reserves and inflation, monetary policy will continue to remain accommodative to provide further stimulus for economic growth. with this positive outlook the insurance industry can be expected to benefit, in line with gdp growth. bis central bankers ’ speeches a final point i would venture to make concerns investment possibilities in the field of medical care pertaining to “ retirement villages ”. while talking to groups of potential investors, including well - off retirees, in korea and japan recently, our fiji delegation found that there was great interest to come to live here ( of course golf and a slower pace of life was mentioned a lot ). a major hurdle the investors noted, and also admitted by ourselves, was the need for quality responsive medical facilities and necessary evacuation as needed. from our discussions this is clearly a valuable tourism niche which could be exploited, not only by the government but also by our private sector. i say this because fijicare is in the business now of providing medical facilities. concluding remarks ladies and gentlemen, fijicare ’ s 20th anniversary celebrations this year is evident of its commitment and perseverance. i congratulate them for achieving this milestone. i would like to again thank the fijicare team for your kind invitation. i rei

shamshad akhtar : development of microfinance keynote address by dr shamshad akhtar, governor of the state bank of pakistan, at the seminar on “ beyond charity : commercial opportunities in micro and small lending ”, jointly organized by usaid and shore bank international, islamabad, 6 june 2006. * * * ladies and gentlemen, let me welcome you all to the one - day international seminar on “ commercial opportunities in micro and small business lending ”, jointly organized by usaid and shore bank international. the seminar comes at the heels of a ‘ pro - poor, pro - employment ’ budget 2006 / 07, which has a special allocation of rs. 10 billion for the khushhal pakistan fund, in addition to employment generation schemes. pakistan has enormous potential for the development and exploitation of the microfinance industry. at the onset, the concept of microfinance as a tool and mechanism for poverty alleviation needs to be well understood. it refers to the provision of a whole range of financial services to lower - income people, especially the poor, who can use the funding to finance their businesses, acquire household assets, improve consumption, invest in health and education and fund emergencies and social obligations. its definition has to be broad based to include micro - credit 1 for tiny informal businesses and micro - entrepreneurs who are provided loans and a range of savings products and transfer services. 2 a range of options exist to intermediate microfinance which goes beyond ngos, and includes commercial banks, state - owned development banks, financial cooperatives, and a variety of other licensed and unlicensed non - bank financial institutions. setting aside the broader framework for microfinance, it is important to recognize that pakistan is a late starter in developing the microfinance industry. there is a lot of work ahead to promote and systematically develop this sector. at the same time, it is important to note that pakistan ’ s microfinance industry has followed a conventional route and has taken some significant initiatives to set on course the development agenda for microfinance. moving away from the traditional reliance on nationalized banks to finance small farmers ( which were seen as the primary universe in terms of being eligible for micro - credit ) and the few ngos which provided a range of special rural support or special urban slum targeted programs, pakistan has now entered a new phase of microfinance development. the country has witnessed a wave of experimental programs. sequentially, some sponsors promoted a number of foundations e.