move on to bigger things and i wish her the success she obviously deserves! assistance to small businesses it is my view that the formal financial sector needs to be a bit more accommodative in granting access to small businesses. the fdb ’ s small business awards cover businesses with a turnover of between $ 30, 000 and $ 100, 000. however, there are also those that have a lower turnover that need finance to start up. money is not the only ingredient required for successful businesses. they need assistance with business acumen and good governance principles. training, coaching and mentoring, including complying with the laws, are huge challenges. the government in its 2012 national budget address introduced the sme credit guarantee scheme with the aim of encouraging and supporting small and medium sized local businesses, particularly by improving private sector lending in their direction. under this scheme, government will provide a guarantee for up to 50 percent of the outstanding principal amount of any defaulted sme business loans, up to a limit of $ 50, 000 per business. interest charged on such lending must not be higher than 10 percent per annum. the fact that the lending institutions no longer have to cover the total risk should make it easier to lend and our latest data shows this to be the case with 338 smes already qualifying through the commercial banks since the scheme ’ s inception in january 2012. these businesses have managed to borrow a total of $ 18. 8 million and to date there have been no failures or calls reported on the guarantee. ladies and gentlemen, the rbf board at its june 2013 meeting approved a reduction in the rbf advance rate to lending institutions under its import substitution and export finance facility ( iseff ) and natural disaster rehabilitation facility ( ndrf ). licensed credit institutions, commercial banks and the fiji development bank are now able to access iseff bis central bankers ’ speeches and ndrf funding from the reserve bank at 1 percent per annum compared with 2 percent previously. they on - lend these funds to eligible businesses up to a maximum of 5 percent. together the fijian government and the rbf have been building an enabling and supportive environment that is conducive to economic growth for the business community. rbf monetary policy continues to be accommodative towards growth. the fijian economy before i close, i would just like to provide a brief update for you on the positive news about the fijian economy. growth this year is estimated at 3. 2 percent, the highest since

and we are sharing some of the hosting arrangements with our fellow piri members. the opportunity to host such an important and significantly extensive forum is building up to be a key national event in 2016 for fiji as a nation. we are looking forward to welcoming over 500 delegates and we hope many of you will be able to attend. this will be a great opportunity for fiji and the pacific region to showcase some of the innovative solutions that we have developed and implemented, and we at the reserve bank of fiji are gearing ourselves to bring our pacific flavour to the forum and all its delegates. closing in closing i wish you all a productive four days of sharing and learning. i urge all participants to make the best use of this networking opportunity. please share your own experiences and be open to the insights shared by the speakers and your fellow colleagues. our gratitude again to afi and the pacific financial inclusion programme for the ongoing initiative towards the up - skilling of our regulators in the region and we look forward to many such opportunities in the future. may i also acknowledge again the presence of the australian high commissioner to fiji. thank you, your excellency for taking the time to be with us today. to all our visitors, while i realise that you will be fully dedicated to the sessions, i do hope you will also take time to explore denarau and nadi, and enjoy our fijian hospitality and our world famous bula smiles! vinaka vaka levu and i wish you all a pleasant stay in fiji. bis central bankers ’ speeches