- up of external debt. fiscal consolidation will be an essential element for securing high growth, by crowding - in private investment and making room for much needed infrastructure investment. such consolidation will need to be accompanied by improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency of public spending as well as of the tax system and its administration. we look forward to a discussion of issues related to fiscal consolidation and macroeconomic adjustment in session i of the conference, which will be chaired by mr. yannis costopoulos, chairman of alpha bank. the desirability of establishing a more - diversified export - based growth in the region highlights the importance of improving competitiveness. in this regard, policies that encourage greater flexibility in the labour market, competitive product markets, and an improved business environment will be critical. issues addressing the necessary policies will be discussed in session ii of the conference, which will be chaired by mr. george tavlas, director general at the bank of greece. policies of stabilization and reform cannot be effectively implemented without public support. in a period of falling incomes and rising unemployment, achieving that support may prove challenging. it is especially important to try to ensure that the reforms are perceived by the public to be fair and effective, so that the short - term sacrifices are considered worthwhile. issues related to the building of social and political support for reforms in south east europe will be addressed in session iii of the conference, which will be chaired by mr. thanos veremis, professor at the university of athens. with reference to the financial sector in south east europe, the presence of foreign banks in the region has increased both the efficiency of financial intermediation and the availability of credit to the real economy. yet, it has been argued that, in some cases, financial stress originating in eu parent banks may have been transmitted to the central and eastern europe region in the early stages of the crisis. it has also been argued that euro area - based parent banks helped fuel credit booms in the region and encouraged the use of unhedged foreigncurrency borrowing. after the crisis erupted, the “ vienna initiative ” responded to those criticisms. the initiative promoted a dialogue among parent banks, home and host supervisors, and governments under the umbrella of the imf, the ebrd and the eu. it made the countries in the region less vulnerable to shocks caused by sudden stops in capital inflows by committing parent banks to maintain their exposure to these countries. however, a number of challenges lie ahead, including

emmanuel tumusiime - mutebile : developing a vibrant capital market in uganda speech by mr emmanuel tumusiime - mutebile, governor of the bank of uganda, at the official listing of bonus shares at the uganda securities exchange, kampala, 7 june 2013. * * * the global chairman & managing director, bank of baroda & guest of honour – mr. s. s. mundra governing council members, uganda securities exchange, chief executive officer, capital markets authority, chairman and board of directors, bank of baroda ( u ) ltd, dignitaries and invited guests in your respective capacities, ladies and gentlemen, good morning it gives me great pleasure to be the chief guest on the occasion of the official listing of the bonus shares of the bank of baroda ( uganda ) ltd. i would like to commend the board and the management of bank of baroda for their foresight in issuing bonus shares to facilitate the increase in the bank ’ s paid up capital, as well as for their continued good stewardship of the bank. the bank of uganda raised the minimum paid up capital requirement for banks, from shs 4 billion in 2011 to shs 25 billion. the motivation for the increase was both to strengthen the capital base of banks and to bring our minimum paid up capital requirement closer to those of our partners in the east african community. most of the banks operating in uganda already had a capital base, in terms of total shareholders ’ funds, which exceeded shs 25 billion prior to the statutory increase in paid up capital coming into effect ( which for banks already operating in uganda, was march of this year ). for some banks, however, it was necessary to restructure their capital by transferring funds from their retained reserves to their paid up capital. issuing bonus shares to shareholders is one way of implementing such a transfer. it also provides a mechanism for rewarding the existing shareholders out of the profits generated by the bank. this is actually the second time in the last two years that the bank of baroda has issued bonus shares to its shareholders, thereby increasing its paid up capital. the bank of baroda has made a prominent contribution to the development of a vibrant capital market in uganda. it was the first financial institution to be listed on the uganda securities exchange ( use ). since it was first listed, the value of the bank ’ s shares has grown remarkably. the bank of baroda is one of the oldest banks in this country, and has survived and