employs around 38 percent of the labor force. sbp has been proactively promoting credit to agriculture sectors, primarily through the enhancement in production loans to small farmers to improve their productivity. i am pleased to share that banks have disbursed rs. 606. 1 billion up to january 2019, which is around 50 % of the total assigned target of rs. 1, 250 billion for fy19. moreover, the number of outstanding borrowers has also increased to 3. 92 million as of end - january 2019 from 3. 50 million a year earlier, with a growth of 12 percent. going forward, i believe there is a need to develop stronger linkages between the agriculture sector and sme / large - scale processing and manufacturing sectors. this would help achieve the dual objective of making the country self - sufficient in terms of industrial raw material, while also providing incentives to farmers to grow non - traditional high value crops. finally, i will move to the third priority area, i. e. low - cost housing finance. pakistan is facing a shortage of 10 million housing units and this number is growing. this basic human need is felt more profoundly at the bottom - of - the - pyramid comprising of the poor and financially under - served segments of the society. to this end, sbp has undertaken various initiatives to promote and develop housing finance in pakistan. key initiatives include separate prudential regulations, setting up of the pakistan mortgage refinance company, capacity - building measures, and creating an enabling regulatory framework. page 6 of 9 in order to address the issue of affordability, the sbp in the presence of prime minister has launched a low - cost housing finance policy last week that encompasses important measures taken by the sbp including regulatory relaxations to banks / dfis, as well as a subsidized fixed rate financial facility for low cost housing for special segments. firstly, to give you some examples of regulatory relaxations, the existing 0. 5 – 1. 5 percent general reserve requirement against classified housing finance portfolio will not be applicable on low - cost housing finance. in addition, the loan to value ratio of 85 : 15 has been relaxed to 90 : 10 for low cost housing finance. also, the bank or dfi ’ s exposure in low cost housing is not to be included for calculating the real estate exposure limit ( i. e. 10percentof advances and investments ). the financing facility for low cost housing for special segments is a scheme designed

of the euro through lower transaction costs. this may, in turn, facilitate the development of the euro as a vehicle currency for trade and commodity pricing. in addition, if international investors and issuers consider the euro to be a stable currency, they will hold more euro assets to minimise risks in their internationally diversified portfolios. two processes of great significance for the world economic and political order have unfolded in the last decades : economic globalisation and european integration. they are partially linked. yet they have different roots. one is the fruit of technological process and the free forces of the markets. the other has been motivated by political will and vision. regional integration and international co - operation are surely appropriate means to promote more stability and economic growth in the different parts of the world and to contribute to humanise the process of globalisation. * * * the euro banknotes show windows, gateways and bridges. these symbols of openness and communication will help both to promote a feeling of shared identity and to further strengthen exchanges among the nations of europe. at the same time, these symbols are a reflection of the european attitude towards the rest of the world.