ahmed naseer : the need for increased efficiency and dynamism of the financial sector speech by mr ahmed naseer, governor of the maldives monetary authority, at the 45th anniversary of state bank of india ’ s male branch, male, 11 february 2019. * * * your excellency the president of republic of maldives honorable ibrahim mohamed solih, vice president honorable faisal naseem, managing director state bank of india mr. dinesh khara country manager state bank of india mr. amritesh mohan distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen : assalamalaikum and a very good evening to you all. it is an honour and a pleasure to say a few words this evening, on the proud occasion of the 45th anniversary of sbi male ’. i take this opportunity to congratulate sbi – the wisdom, the leadership and the vision of the management and the hard work of the staff for having made sbi a proud, i must say an inseparable, business partner of the maldives. over the past four and a half decades, the management and staff of sbi has contributed selflessly to the development of the maldivian economy and the financial sector of the maldives mr. president, your presence here today demonstrates the importance you attach to the development of the financial sector in the maldives. i am confident that your presence would be a reassurance for all the businesses and individuals who continue to foster a close relationship with sbi – known to its customers as india bank or state bank. sbi male ’ was the very first bank established in the maldives which started its operations in 1974 – a big milestone for maldives ; a defacto central bank that would handle all the banking activities of the government of maldives came into existence ; mma was institutionalized almost half a decade later in 1981. sbi has continued to play a prominent role in the development of the financial sector and the maldivian economy. i would like to emphasize that sbi is the largest foreign bank in the maldives, holding a significant market share of around 20 percent in terms of total assets and deposits of the industry. as of december 31, 2018, sbi has extended 5. 3 billion maldivian rufiyaa as loans and advances to the private sector, representing almost a quarter of the total loan portfolio of the industry. more than half of the portfolio is extended towards tourism ; construction and real estate ; and trade and commerce activities. i applaud your commitment to the economic growth of

intermediate goods, etc. – were to remain unchanged. and we all know, and our history confirms, that such a thing is impossible! in the light of our own and world experience, we in the nbs appeal to all of you to renounce taking drugs called inflation, to renounce short term effects, the so - called “ better export performance ” for the sake of long term sustainability and stability. by the way, if the exchange rate of the dinar were to be changed, would you, the exporters, be prepared to promise that you will achieve a significant increase in exports? is the government prepared to promise to substantially cut public spending and not give in to the requests of trade unions regardless of the effects of depreciation? the answer is no! we have already seen all of that and, in my view, transition is not going back to the past but a way to the future! there is a latent pressure on the mpc members to involve themselves with current problems and to act fast. however, the task of the mpc is to look ahead into the future and to secure stability in the long run. the support for low inflation will weaken if it is based only on memories of consequences of high and unstable inflation of the past. there is a need for understanding of the essence of positive features of low inflation and long - term stability particularly by those who seem not to remember our inflationary past. hence, the main task of the mpc is to explain the significance of stability of prices and to gradually shape public attitude towards low rate of inflation.