inequality often leads to poverty while poverty hinders development and prosperity. addressing inequality issues would undoubtedly have a positive impact on poverty alleviation. we would also probably unanimously agree that alleviating poverty is vital, considering its many economic, social, cultural and even more importantly, the human costs. therefore, addressing the issue of inequality and deprivation while expanding the economy, has today become a great challenge to economic planners across the globe, and indeed to those in sri lanka as well. in other words, poverty alleviation has to become an integral part of the development process if true prosperity is to be ushered. that is one of the reasons why we at the central bank do not only track the traditional macro - economic fundamentals. we also track the indicators that tell us whether or not “ wealth ” is reaching the ordinary people of our country. in that context, let ’ s take a quick look at some of the fundamental indicators as well as discuss some other trends to assess as to how inequality, poverty and development is progressing in our country. strong gdp growth and investment 8. 0 31. 0 gdp growth ( % ) 7. 0 29. 0 investment ( % gdp ) 6. 0 27. 0 5. 0 25. 0 4. 0 3. 0 23. 0 2. 0 21. 0 1. 0 19. 0 0. 0 - 1. 0 2007f - 2. 0 17. 0 15. 0 banking system health strengthening net npl return on assets 2. 0 1. 8 1. 6 1. 4 1. 2 1. 0 0. 8 0. 6 0. 4 0. 2 - 2 0. 0 unemployment declining ( % ) public debt declining ( % of gdp ) external government debt domestic government debt 2007f as you may have noted, just yesterday, standard & poors revised the outlook for sri lanka from negative to stable and that is indeed a useful confirmation of the success of the manner in which the economy is progressing. at the same time, we see some interesting social and economic indicators as well which disprove the perception / claim that people do not feel the present economic growth. let ’ s look at some of these facts too : • number of registration of motor vehicles and motor cycles continue to rise sharply. • the usage of mobile phones is expanding rapidly. • the number of new apartment buildings and individual housing units are increasing and selling fast – almost every road and by land now has some construction activity going on! • super market

sunil mendis : a brief look at financial information technology keynote address by mr sunil mendis, governor of the central bank of sri lanka, for the financial information systems seminar, colombo, 8 september 2004. * * * his excellency akio suda, the ambassador for japan in sri lanka, mr yoshihisa onishi, executive director, fisc, other officers from the fisc in japan, ladies and gentlemen, the central bank of sri lanka is happy to co - sponsor this programme together with the fisc of japan ( center for financial industry information systems ), in view of the importance of financial information technology in the financial services industry. sri lanka is no exception to continuous changes in the technology used by its financial services industry. in a market driven financial system, for information to be effective, there should be two vital ingredients, that is system integrity and timeliness - both of which are crucial. the more dependable your information systems are, the more efficient and competitive banks can be as a player in the financial services industry. that is why we see banks investing heavily in it. globally too, with the interdependence of markets their integration is facilitated through information systems which link these markets which make the world a very small place indeed on a pc monitor where the whole world is virtually at your doorstep. the fisc, therefore, has contributed significantly, over the last 20 years, to making information systems more efficient and dependable through their research activities and technical co - operation programmes which have been extended to asian countries such as sri lanka. of particular interest to banks would be the security guidelines on computer systems and audit guidelines for information systems of financial institutions, which they have issued. some of these can be used as guidelines by our banking industry. government and the people of japan have contributed immensely to the development of this country for many decades in the past in different fields and their support in sharing their knowledge on financial information system with the sri lankan financial sector is greatly appreciated. in this connection i wish to thank the fisc who has devoted so much of its time and effort to bring in expertise in this area to market participants in sri lankaa€™s financial system. this would also provide a good forum for our banks to exchange ideas on specific security features adopted by the fisc. i have no doubt that this seminar will provide an excellent opportunity for useful interaction amongst participants, and i would like to convey my best wishes.