inculcate good habits and help you to make good financial decisions as you grow in life. besides enhancing your financial literacy, this year ’ s diary revolves around the theme “ the climate is changing, we must change too ”. we in the pacific are all too familiar with this phenomenon. climate change and the discourse on the global stage teach us so many life lessons. we have a moral obligation as humanity to those that are following behind us, and those who have yet to come. we are merely passing through earth on our life ’ s journey. we have the obligation to leave our beautiful surroundings as good as if not better than we found it for the generations to come. private mail bag, suva, fiji tel : ( 679 ) 331 3611 fax : ( 679 ) 330 2094 email : info @ rbf. gov. fj website : www. rbf. gov. fj reserve bank of fiji we must be responsible and build sustainable habits or we risk inadvertently destroying things that are near, dear and valuable to us. to achieve noble and worthy goals requires commitment, dedication and frequently immense sacrifices. our path is often too hard to be trodden on alone, so we must assist one another and seek help where we can. life can seem most unfair ; sometimes we are at the mercy of others or suffer as a consequence of others. however we must not let that ‘ blind ’ us from our abilities and capabilities. everyone is capable of great things. we saw this at play with a small nation like fiji assuming global leadership of this issue, described as one of the greatest challenges of our generation. from over 190 countries, fate, circumstance or whatever you may attribute it to, chose fiji and our honourable prime minister to assume the presidency of the united nations climate change conference of parties or cop23 in bonn, germany. always be ready, be prepared, when destiny or fate comes knocking presenting an opportunity, choosing you, choosing us, rise and be counted. fiji continues to make numerous efforts to address climate change including having introduced a “ green growth framework ” to guide the nation in building a sustainable future. the reserve bank and fiji ’ s financial sector are also in support of this cause and are committed towards greening fiji ’ s financial sector. recent rbf initiatives around this include joining the sustainable banking network, committing to private mail bag, suva, fiji tel : ( 679 ) 331 3611 fax : ( 679 ) 330 2094 email

because both notes are green and we do not want to create undue confusion. the $ 2 note withdrawal exercise is expected to take up to three months so we should see the first new $ 5 notes in circulation in april. economic update ladies and gentlemen, the reserve bank remains bullish on our economic prospects and supports the notion underpinning the 2013 national budget that the fundamentals are being laid and the best is yet to come. throughout 2012 domestic demand had been buoyant and investment continued to pick up. as a result, our labour market is finding some traction. however we are always prone to the threat of natural disasters and cyclone evan showed that we must not be complacent. there also continue to be risks on the external front with the recent downward revisions in global growth. despite the downside risks the reserve bank ’ s twin objectives of low inflation and a comfortable level of foreign reserves presently remain intact. inflation fell to 1. 5 percent in december then blipped upwards to 3. 2 percent in january following cyclone evan. our end year expectation is around 3 percent. foreign reserves are currently at $ 1. 6 billion or sufficient to pay for just under 5 months of imports of goods and services. concluding remarks ladies and gentlemen, i reiterate that i enjoy being a part of these functions as they come on the back of increased investment and confidence in the country and its future. thank you again kevin for the invitation to be here this evening and i take this opportunity to wish you and your families a prosperous new year. official opening i now have much pleasure in declaring the refurbished bank south pacific, nadi branch, open. vinaka vaka levu. bis central bankers ’ speeches