cause his property value to plummet? when external auditors fail in their duties because of greed and recklessness, they put an entire financial industry in jeopardy. greed is good only if it leads to honest wealth creation. take due cognizance of what ’ s happening the world over and in the country. over the past three years, there has been a significant decline in correspondent banking facilities. the regions that have been the hardest hit are the caribbean, eastern europe, central asia, east asia and especially small jurisdictions with significant offshore banking activities and high - risk jurisdictions. the threats posed by the decline in correspondent banking are serious. regulators, including the bank of mauritius, the financial services commission, the financial intelligence unit and most importantly external auditors of financial institutions have to be extraordinarily diligent in tracking the nature of financial flows failing which the economy could be seriously affected. the realities and challenges have been mutating fast due to crosscurrents of forces in recent years. i ask external auditors to wake up and smell the coffee ; it ’ s a far different coffee. i would have very much liked to end this address right now. but i would feel something missing if i resume to my seat without highlighting an issue. our bank supervisors have observed that one of the key reasons for loan delinquency and rising non - performing loans is due to borrowers diverting funds from the main activity for which funds are directed. the ease with which a client in arrears opens another operating account with a new bank with a view to diverting funds for financing non - business related activities is a serious concern from the standpoint of financial stability. disaster lies in wait for bankers who smoke the same hashish they give out to other bankers. it is no doubt the duty of a banking industry to put a stop to such diversion of funds. any well - meaning and competent association of bankers with a sense of purpose for the promotion of a robust banking industry ought to have resolved this issue already. an effective association of bankers has to be representative of all the banks, not to be a representative of one or two persons. in 1982, i happened to be in the campus of l ’ universite de bordeaux, france. i was asked by a friend why the guy from belgium goes to sleep with one glass full of water and one empty glass next to his bed. i could not give the correct reply. and i was then told that the belgian guy never knows if he

’ ll be thirsty or not bis central bankers ’ speeches when he wakes up in the night. when an association of bankers start resembling the belgian guy, i believe it has no raison d ’ etre in our banking industry, more so if issues affecting its own members are not resolved in - house. i have been open. i have been frank. i have been candid. i have been straightforward. you have choices to make. the bank of mauritius, too, has choices to make. ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the board of directors, members of the monetary policy committee, the staff of the bank and my wife, i extend to you all and your families happy holidays. thank you. god bless you. bis central bankers ’ speeches