bank ’ s economists, as well as laying the foundation for the bank ’ s well - earned reputation for its research among regional central banks. without doubt it has contributed to the development of our economists, facilitating the transition from the study of economics to the practice of research economics in the real world. for more experienced economists, the ars has and continues to provide an opportunity to stay at the cutting edge through on - going discussion and collaboration with their peers in academia, the public sector, and private business, in barbados, the region and beyond. our theme this year, practical solutions to strengthen economic growth, is indeed timely. as i noted in a recent presentation, rates of economic growth in the caricom region declined significantly from 6 % in the 1960s to less than 1 % in recent years. indeed, a recent idb study points out that that caribbean economies have grown by 1. 7 % over the past 25 years compared to 3. 7 % for the world and 4. 6 % for emerging markets. size, or lack thereof, and openness have made the region especially vulnerable to the many 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches exogenous shocks, including the several natural disasters that have impacted the region during this period. while the region as a whole is experiencing low growth, differences in endowments are impacting overall growth performance in individual economies. for example, last year, regional output declined largely because of falling output in the commodity based economies which have been adversely impacted by declines in commodity prices. on the other hand services based economies are registering modest growth. as policy makers, we face the challenge of creating conditions that will contribute to improved standards of living over time. we all recognise that our policy framework must be credible and sustainable. in barbados we face current policy challenges to which some of the research at this seminar can help to provide explanations as to how policy actions can be designed to favourably impact economic activity. indeed, a cursory view of the agenda for this week reveals topics of current interest, including derisking, financial stability, the optimal size of government, macro - fiscal linkages of green energy and trade in cultural industries. i do hope that you will find the seminar this year to be interesting, stimulating and rewarding as you seek to share insights and practical solutions that might stimulate an acceleration of growth across the region. to set us on the path of exploration, i have the distinct pleasure to introduce our keynote speaker this morning, dr justin ram, director of

honourable members, it may be worth noting that our foreign reserves level broke a number of records last year and reached a high of $ 2. 445 billion on 18 september 2017. ( iv ) financial stability it is paramount that we continue to have a sound, stable and healthy financial system to ensure confidence, and the efficient allocation of resources, and distribution of risks across the economy. you may recall that the minister for economy made a ministerial statement on the importance of safeguarding the stability of fiji ’ s financial system in the recent sitting of parliament and therefore, i will be brief on this outcome. i am pleased to inform the standing committee that the fijian financial system remains safe and sound supported by a growing asset portfolio which rose from $ 16. 8 billion in august 2016 to $ 18. 5 billion in july 2017 and a further increase to $ 19. 4 billion by the end of 2017. this is almost twice our gdp. the growth and importance of our financial system was validated by the recent findings of the financial sector stability review ( fssr ) for fiji which was undertaken by the imf. it is important for me to highlight that fiji was only the fifth country in the world and the first in the pacific region to undergo a financial sector stability review. the 7 - member mission team was here from 14 - 27 february 2018. honourable members, the imf has concluded the 2018 fssr for fiji with its stress test assessment indicating that the banking system in fiji as a whole appears to be resilient to shocks similar to those experienced in the last 15 years. however, to further ensure the ongoing safety and soundness of our financial system, the 2018 fssr mission has made some key recommendations for the continued strengthening of the rbf ’ s regulatory role on which we will commence work shortly. 3. responses to questions by the standing commitee let me now respond to the list of questions posed by the standing committee. bis central bankers ’ speeches [ i ] we note that the housing facility to assist low income first time home owners has increased to $ 60 million from $ 25 million. can we be given a number of how many have benefitted from this facility? will this facility progressively increase in line with demand? honourable members, please allow me to preface my response by saying that the reserve bank grants special lending facilities to address specific areas that may be impeding economic development and growth. from a national or macro perspective, these facilities do provide positive benefits. we have our national