the rugged geographical terrain of the country makes access to financial services difficult for the semi - formal, informal and the rural population. in our endeavours to bring out financial services to these sectors, the bank of papua new guinea in collaboration with the asian development bank, the national government and ausaid established the “ wau microbank ” under the micro finance project. the pilot project is slowly growing into a viable complementary player in the development of the financial system. in addition, the png micro finance limited, which obtained a banking license in 2004, and has operations in ncd, western and oro province. the micro - finance industry development is a meaningful way of mobilizing savings and servicing a large section of the community to whom financial facilities are not readily available. the government has also introduced the district treasury roll - out program, which will further complements the provision of financial services in the rural parts of papua new guinea. this entails the provision of treasury, banking and post office services from one outlet mainly at local and district levels. the bank of papua new guinea is also supportive of the government ’ s initiatives to promote export driven economic growth strategy through removal of impediments to trade and investment. in recognition of this initiative, the bank liberalized the foreign exchange control regime by freeing up controls in all but ( 4 ) areas which are : • opening of foreign currency or kina accounts offshore by residents ; • approval for capital transaction contracts ; • gold export licenses ; and • approval for dealing in foreign exchange. in addition, borrowing restrictions on domiciled foreign companies were removed to encourage growth in lending. to date, consistent with the banks expectation, the liberalization has had limited impact on the balance of payments position of the country. this is the result of a close and ongoing dialogue and communication between the stakeholders and the bank of papua new guinea. macroeconomic outcome the end result of the financial sector reforms and the other reforms in aggregate have resulted in political and macroeconomic stability. the current government will serve a full term in office, which is a first of its kind since independence. the reforms have also helped to achieve macroeconomic stability as reflected by the lower annual headline inflation of 4. 6 percent in 2005, compared to 21. 8 percent in 1998, stable exchange rate at around us $ 0. 3240, high international reserves of us $ 770 million that is sufficient for 7 - 11 months of import cover, and a strong growth in private sector credit at an annual rate of

ellison pidik : a milestone in papua new guinea ’ s micro finance industry speech by mr ellison pidik, assistant governor for financial system stability of the bank of papua new guinea, on behalf of mr loi bakani, governor of the bank of papua new guinea, at the opening of women ’ s micro bank limited, port moresby, 15 august 2014. * * * acknowledgements • board of directors • hon. richard maru, mp, minister for trade, commerce and industry. • management & staff of women ’ s micro bank ltd ( wmbl ) • national council of women • other women groups of png • distinguish guests • ladies and gentlemen 1. 0 introduction good morning to you all. i am representing the governor of the bank of png, mr. loi bakani, to officiate at this event – the official opening ceremony of the women ’ s micro bank limited. i wish to thank the board and ceo of women ’ s micro bank ltd ( wmbl ) for the invitation to officiate in today ’ s event in what promises to be a historic milestone in png ’ s micro finance industry, a women ’ s only micro bank. just recently in june this year i had the pleasure of accompanying the governor of the central bank to officiate in the historic occasion of the presentation of the banking business licence to women ’ s micro bank. there are few important reasons for being here today partly to witness the results of the hard work of the board, management and staff of wmbl, culminating in the opening of the new micro banking premises. this event is remarkable in a sense that wmbl has achieved a milestone of being the fifth ( 5th ) deposit taking microfinance institution to be licensed by the bank under the banks & financial institutions act 2000 ( bfia ) and more importantly the first women ’ s ’ micro bank in png and the pacific region. women ’ s micro bank will finally open its doors to the public especially our women folks for business and we commend you. we look forward to the difference this institution will have on the lives of many families through the financial services that you will make available to the women and mothers of this nation. the png government stresses the need for development of the financial and banking sector to promote inclusive growth to achieve the objectives of vision 2050. as an institution, you will now contribute towards achieving that vision. 2. 0 global movements in financial inclusion