ranks of poor. in asia, poverty incidence fell from 27 % in 1990 to 20 % by 2006 accompanied by improvements in attainment of mdgs. pace of poverty reduction has been steeper in east asia relative to south asia 4 with former lifting the estimate of poor women is based on undp human development report 1995 which stated, " poverty has a woman's face – of 1. 3 billion people in poverty 70 % are women. " this ratio of poor women is most widely quoted even presently. global call for action “ stand up & speak out : 70 % poor are women ” 2007. ibid. the world bank, global monitoring report, 2007. around 630 million people from extreme poverty in under a quarter of a century. this has lowered the region ’ s share in the total poverty from 58 % in 1981 to just 9 % in 2004. in south asia poverty fell from 52 % in 1981 to 32 % in 2004, but absolute numbers of poor remain large. several factors have contributed to improvements in these indicators ranging from higher economic growth and liberalization to concrete affirmative and targeted anti - poverty programs. nexus between inclusiveness, growth and gender equity 7. there is now a broad consensus emerging in development literature that women being a large proportion of population and labor force, if appropriately nurtured, through development and finance inclusive policies would have more distinct impact on economic growth and reduce poverty. 8. recent evidence of few key reports including the world bank ’ s global monitoring report, 2007 and access for all, 2007 and the world economic forum, gender report, 2007 brings out with greater clarity and distinctly the nexus between inclusiveness, growth and poverty reduction. • first, evidence confirms that there is a positive correlation between country ’ s gender gap ranking and their per capita income as well as competitiveness ranking. consequently, it is found that countries with low per capita incomes and ranking inadvertently have high gender gaps. • second, impact of growth on poverty on women ’ s uplift varies depending on the level of incomes of countries as well as the quality of economic growth and its transmission mechanism which in turn, among others, influences income distribution. the global monitoring report, 2007 found that in 19 low income countries, 1 percent of gdp growth was associated with a 1. 3 percent fall in the rate of extreme poverty and a 0. 9 percent fall in the $ 2 - a - day poverty rate. however, for middle - income countries the impact of gdp per capita growth on poverty is less and

radovan jelasic : development of the municipal bond market in serbia speech by mr radovan jelasic, governor of the national bank of serbia, at naled – national alliance for local economic development, belgrade, 13 may 2009. * * * it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all on behalf of the national bank of serbia. we in the national bank have long been advocating the development of bond markets by not only the government and local government bodies, but by other issuers as well. it is the crisis period that shows best that bankcentric systems – elsewhere and in europe, but more poignantly in serbia where banks account for over 90 % of the financial sector – face significant challenges, such as : a ) how to refinance loans due for repayment, b ) how to obtain fresh capital in the market, and c ) how to preserve public trust in the banking system. of course, one should also think in terms of catering for the needs of our clients since a bank is not an end in itself but represents a transmission mechanism between those who save and those who need the money. inefficacy of the banking sector necessarily affects the overall economy, and bank debtors are no exception. allow me to illustrate this idea by the following example : even if the european central bank cuts its policy rate ( which, at the moment, measures 1. 0 % only ), that does not necessarily mean that banks will automatically have access to cheaper funding especially if the risk premium for banks is increased. bank clients would in such a situation have two options : a ) to take more expensive loans from banks, or b ) to bypass banks altogether and borrow directly in the capital market by issuing own securities. as the nbs is also entrusted with the supervision of insurance companies and voluntary pension funds, urgent development of the securities market, including securities issued by local government bodies, is of our utmost interest. such development is also in the interest of commercial banks since securities operations are a typical segment of investment banking operations – issuing securities without undertaking credit risk. for that particular reason, the nbs is of the opinion that amid numerous projects and proposals relating to the development of the capital market, it is high time a concrete project was finally undertaken. some of the major prerequisites for the successful implementation of such a project are as follows : 1. local government bodies should have their own sources of income instead of relying on the “ transfer of funds ” which can be