run, and the revision of some guidelines especially those relating to credit concentration and related party transactions. • the bank initiated the publication of regular bi - annual financial stability and inflation reports starting with the first issues in july 2008 and november 2008 respectively, thus fulfilling one of the requirements of its enabling legislation. • the foreign exchange market saw growing competition with the issue of 14 new licences to money changers and one to a foreign exchange dealer : nine of these had commenced operations before 30 june 2009. • we enhanced our islamic finance credentials by hosting a seminar on islamic capital markets jointly with the financial services commission and the islamic financial services board, which the bank joined as an associate member in 2007. we authorised the local branch of a major international bank to provide islamic financial services through a window operation. • we achieved greater transparency regarding fees and commissions charged by banks by enforcing a standard template for reporting fees and commissions by all banks in mauritius because we believe that a better - informed consumer can lead to more competitive outcomes and cheaper services. • we pursued our efforts to graduate to the imf ’ s more demanding special data dissemination standards, thereby demonstrating our commitment to the provision of data of quality and frequency to rank with the best anywhere. • faced with the deteriorating external environment and its knock - on effects on the domestic economy, the monetary policy committee met six times during the year – including a special meeting in july 2008, when the relentless upward pressure on inflation with serious risks of high inflation expectations becoming entrenched, made it more appropriate to raise the policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 8. 25 % per annum. the bank raised the minimum crr effective 15 august 2008, which led to a rise in short - term interest rates, thereby further tightening monetary conditions. • subsequently, the monetary policy stance was loosened, with the krr being reduced by a cumulative total of 250 basis points in the period of six months to march 2009. this monetary easing was done in conjunction with the expansionary fiscal policy designed to shore up the domestic economy, which i referred to earlier. • the bank took over the debt management function from mofee, including the responsibility for the drafting of the government debt management strategy. • total government debt stood at rs134 billion as at end - june 2009 as against rs122 billion at end - june 2008 – at less than 60 % of gdp, a far cry from the rising debt levels in the major economies, some of which exceed 100 % of gdp. the bank has

than 70 % of irs trades currently being centrally cleared without regulatory mandate. cds market is still developing and it may take more time to achieve the necessary market activity to support central clearing of cds transactions. timeframe for guaranteed settlement of cds will be mandated after a critical level of volume is attained. • exchange or electronic platform trading : electronic platforms are available for transactions involving repos in government securities, irs, forward rate agreements and foreign exchange forwards. report of the working group on government securities and interest rate derivatives markets ( chairman : shri r. gandhi ) has also recommended introduction of an electronic swap execution facility ( electronic trading platform ) for the irs market, and consider introduction of a ccp which may provide guaranteed settlement of trades executed through the electronic platform. • reporting to trade repositories : as per existing regulatory guidelines, banks and primary dealers report irs / fra and foreign exchange derivatives transactions on ccil reporting platform. with regard to cds, all market makers must report all trades ( including client trades ) on the ccil ’ s reporting platform. presently, client trades in irs are also being reported by banks. conclusion 21. i am sure in this summit, you will all be discussing the credit investment market infrastructure, the various opportunities and challenges that the credit investment market offers and how to benefit out of this important segment of the financial market. i wish you all useful deliberations. 22. thank you all for your attention. bis central bankers ’ speeches