down from k659. 0 million or 17. 3 percent in march 2008, and partly reflects the impact of the global financial crisis and the economic recession in the major industrialised countries. despite its significance to the local economy, financial resources channeled to the agriculture sector remains dismal. commercial banks ’ lending to the agriculture sector, excluding forestry and fisheries, totaled k147. 7 million in the march quarter of 2009, which was 3. 1 percent of total lending. this compares to k104. 1 million and 4. 0 percent of total lending in march 2008. these amounts compare poorly against lending to the other sectors of the economy, including commerce ( retail and wholesale trade ), manufacturing, transportation, construction and services such as hotel and real estate ( see chart 3 ). the financial sector reforms have created the foundation for an efficient and sound financial system that assist the course for stability and growth, which provides an opportunity for the financial sector to introduce new financial products that are suitable for the papua new guinean economy. the new area of banking that has been successful in several developing countries is electronic or mobile money banking. electronic banking products have enabled banks to capture the un - banked population, provide financial literacy and significantly reduce the cost of banking. mobile phone banking and branchless banking operating through agents have become a norm to bring banking services to the rural areas. the fragmented characteristics of the png economy suggest that mobile money or electronic banking is the way forward to provide financial services to the mass in the rural areas. the rapid economic growth in the last five years has created opportunities for bank expansion. the increase in business activities requires commercial bank presence in respective regions of the country. the presence of a fully licensed conventional bank can increase the efficiency of the financial intermediation process and promote economic development. however, many banks have indicated that some of the branches are unprofitable due to the high cost of operations. to circumvent the high cost of running full branches, the commercial banks have expanded the net work of atms and eftpos, which has complemented branch net work and in some instances have become substitutes for branches to a limited extent. the existences of atms and eftpos have made banking easier and efficient in the rural areas. however, these developments will not succeed if : • infrastructure is not in place for investors to build on. mobile banking and branchless banking requires transport, power, and communication infrastructure. e. g

lesetja kganyago : overview of the south african economy address by mr lesetja kganyago, governor of the south african reserve bank, at the 96th annual ordinary general meeting of shareholders, pretoria, 29 july 2016. * 1. * * governor ’ s address the past year has again been a challenging one for the bank against the backdrop of a hesitant recovery in the global economy and a slowing domestic economy. while the recent decision by the uk to leave the european union ( brexit ) has raised the risks to the outlook, the extent of the spillover effects are still unclear. much will depend on the speed and terms of the disengagement. at this stage we do not know which of a number of possible scenarios will unfold. the financial markets have stabilised following the initial volatile response to the decision. however, it is likely that growth in the uk, and to a lesser extent in the eu, will be negatively affected, as a protracted period of uncertainty is expected to undermine both business and consumer confidence. as a consequence, growth forecasts have already been revised down. this comes at a time when the eurozone growth prospects, although still muted, had improved steadily during the past year, partly in response to european central bank monetary stimulus. the us economic recovery appeared to be more sustained during the past year with consistent improvements in the labour market. this was despite a slowdown in the first quarter, which was viewed as temporary. the performance of the economy improved since then, but some negative spillovers from brexit are expected. despite sustained fiscal and monetary stimulus in japan, economic growth was marginally positive. while the past year was slightly more favourable for advanced economies, the same cannot be said for emerging markets, although there were divergent experiences. the growth slowdown in china continued, accompanied by increased volatility in domestic financial markets. this was partly in response to policy changes and persistent concerns regarding the stability of the financial sector. the slower growth continued to impact negatively on commodity prices, further complicating the outlook for commodity - producing emerging markets. more recently, the economy appears to have responded to renewed stimulus measures, and risks of a hard landing have abated. this has also helped to stabilise commodity prices. both brazil and russia slid into recession during this period and continue to contract. by contrast, india experienced high growth following a number of structural reforms. the slowdown in sub - saharan africa, in response