to start worrying about an accountant spending it on my behalf! we have just witnessed the awarding of certificates to those who have passed their “ final qualifying exams ” ( or fqes ). and, later on this evening, we will also witness the induction of new members into the samoa institute of accountants. on behalf of everyone here tonight, i wish to congratulate all of you on the achievement of these important milestones in your education and career lives. you have continued to make your families both proud and happy. but, i caution you, this is only the first step in your careers as accountants. remember, “ it is not what you learned, but how you use what you learned, that counts ”. i came across a definition of an accountant the other day. it said, “ an accountant is someone who solves a problem that you did not know you had, in a way that you don ’ t understand ”! i hope that tonight ’ s graduates do not end up being one of these accountants, who creates a problem first and then pretends to solve it. and, worse still, they end up charging the client for something that was not there in the first place! it ’ s almost like being a lawyer! the recent global financial crisis started from a liquidity shortfall in the united states. this liquidity shortfall resulted from many loans ( especially for housing ) going into default, and there were insufficient assets to cover these loans. as a result, many large banks and financial institutions went bankrupt. and, if it were not for the quick and substantial intervention by some major governments and central banks, the global economy would have collapsed. among others, the accountants have been blamed for the “ financial crisis ”, as a result of their “ creative accounting ” techniques, which contributed to inflating the values of the assets which were used as collateral for the many risky loans that were issued. as well, the ability of many accountants to hide a substantial volume of very large transactions “ off the balance sheet ”, contributed to the demise of many of these large financial institutions. i mention this to highlight the critical roles that accountants can play in maintaining financial stability in national economies and thereby the global economy as a whole. the stable economic environment that samoa has enjoyed over the past many years is also partly due to the responsible way that the members of the samoa institute of accountants have carried out their duties. and, i commend and thank you all for that. let me

leasi papali ’ i tommy scanlan : samoa ’ s economy, interest rates and the expanded mandate of its central bank address by mr leasi papali ’ i tommy scanlan, governor of the central bank of samoa, on the induction of new graduates to the samoa institute of accountants, apia, 25 march 2010. * * * distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen 1. introduction at the outset, i want to thank the president and her committee for inviting me to address you on this special occasion. it is indeed both a privilege and an honour for me to be here this evening. in 1970, when the minister of finance ( hon. niko lee hang ) and i attended form 4 at saint joseph ’ s college, we were told that a number of students in our class will need to take “ physics ” as an option, while the rest will take “ accounting ” or “ bookkeeping ”, as it was called in those days. physics was a relatively new subject at that time, and they needed some guinea pigs to continue their experiment with. and, that was where we came in. we were never given the chance to decide which subject to take. so, from 1970 to 1972, nine of us studied physics while the rest of our colleagues studied accounting. i can never forget what one of the best accounting teachers in the country in those days used to say to us. he said, “ you can study physics all your life, but none of you will ever go to the moon ”. and, this teacher continued, “ in the unlikely event that you physicists become rich, you will not only need accountants to look after your money but the accountants could also end up spending your money for you! ” the teacher ’ s name was brother conrad, and i have no doubt that many of the senior accountants here tonight will remember this very learned marist brother. anyway, in 1973, seven of us from the “ sjc class of 1972 ” won scholarships to study in new zealand to become a doctor, engineers, a teacher, a lawyer, an air traffic controller and a master mariner. no scholarships were offered for accountants or physicists! the end result was, the minister ( niko lee hang ) and most of our other class mates eventually became accountants, whilst one became an economist and another an engineer. i suppose because of br. conrad ’ s warning, there was no physicist from our group. and, fortunately for me, i don ’ t have any money