the most common one i have come across is that this is what we have been doing for years. only when they are out of their comfort zone would they be inspired. inspiration is the pinnacle of personal victory. i fully subscribe to a quote by a richard florida that says : “ people do not need to be managed, they need to be unleashed ”. related to this stretch targets is the situational leaders that i mentioned earlier. sometimes it is relatively easier to lead when things are rosy. but leaders are challenged most when things are tough. the saying that “ when the going get tough, the leaders get going ” is very appropriate. when the situation is tough, tough decisions needs to be made and there is a high premium on being level - headed, keeping emotions under control and being an optimist. for instance in this current crisis, i have been stressing to team rbf that we need to stay sharply focused on our vision and to be absolutely professional on how we approach our work. times are obviously tough in fiji now. our biggest economic challenge is to maintain external financial stability at a time when the economy is declining. without financial stability, the country will be in a much precarious position. i always stress to my colleagues that we have an important national mandate to keep at the reserve bank. therefore, the bank had to take decisive and proactive steps to protect our financial position. over the last four years, the bank had raised interest rates, reduced liquidity and tightened exchange controls. one thing we can be sure about is that raising interest rates and tightening exchange controls are never going to be popular. but unfortunately they are necessary. long term stability is always superior to unsustainable short term gains. we try as much as we can to tell the public why we do the things we do and i am pleased to say that our policies appear to be taking effect. foreign reserves are holding up well. another book on leadership emphasises that good leaders are those that teach others to lead themselves. at the end of it all, the team itself says that they did it themselves. i am a firm believer of this principle. danny cox in his employees handbook on leadership quotes “ the ultimate reward for a leader of people is to be able to say, “ i saw someone grow today, and i helped. ” i believe that the ultimate challenge for us leaders is to be able to effectively grow our people and being able to say, i helped someone grow today. when a

payments and international investment position data constitute an indispensable link in the compilation of data for various components of the national accounts ( e. g., production accounts, income accounts, capital and financial accounts, and the related measurement of national wealth ). the balance of payments is directly aligned and integrated with the system of national accounts. for example, trade statistics used in the balance of payments are also included in the measure of expenditure on gdp. what is the purpose of course? this course has been arranged to help countries to build their capability to compile balance of payments statistics. the conceptual framework will be explained, sources and methodologies for the various components described, and discussions held on the many issues that are of particular concerns to the pacific island countries. the fishing industry, for example, provides the opportunity to discuss many issues including the definitions of residency and national boundaries, flows of goods, services, royalties, salaries of fishermen and so on. i realise that there is a very wide spread of experience of participants - from countries that have been compiling balance of payments for many years including quarterly statistics, through to those that do not currently compile any balance of payments statistics. this will be a particular challenge for the presenters and the participants to ensure everyone gains what they want from the course. the outcomes aimed for in the course will therefore range from increased knowledge to enable participants to return to their countries and make refinements to existing estimates, through to an increased awareness of the benefits from compiling bop which will hopefully lead to plans for development of balance of payments stats in future for countries not yet producing them. what resources are available to balance of payments compilers? there are a number of manuals and handbooks available to assist in developing and compiling balance of payments and international investment position statistics. these include both conceptual materials and very practical guidance in terms of sources and methods that are most suitable for the various elements of the system. pftac here in suva has provided a significant amount of technical assistance to balance of payments compilers in the region for about 12 years. staff at the imf headquarters in washington provides backstopping support to pftac and can also provide additional advice and assistance. i wish you well in this course, and hope that you will learn enough of the concepts and practical issues involved in the balance of payments to take home to your countries and work toward improving the range and quality of the statistics you produce. i also hope you have an enjoyable stay here in suva. thank