fallen so steeply. in the mid - 70 ’ s, credit to the manufacturing sector accounted for 42 % of total bank credit. in the mid - 80 ’ s, this had halved to about 20 %. in the mid - 90 ’ s, it fell to around 15 %. in the last five years, this rapid decline continued and averaged a little less than 5 %. what is still more disturbing than the relative decline is the fall in the actual volume of credit, which contracted from rs 8. 2 billion in june 2008 to rs 6. 6 billion in june 2010. the picture is not that dismal when we look beyond manufacturing at overall credit growth to the private sector. here, absolute volumes are still rising, having more than doubled between june 2005 and june 2010, from rs 102 billion to rs 217 billion. but the rate of overall credit growth has also been decimated in this period, from an annual 26 % to only 8 %. all this gives us cause for serious concern. are our banks perhaps becoming too riskaverse? is there an unmet demand for loans in parallel with excess liquidity in the system? if so, aren ’ t we failing to tap our full growth potential? by becoming too conservative, are our bankers doing us a disservice? it would be foolish to suggest that the bottom line of banks does not matter and we are not saying that. we certainly do not want to add our island to the list of states such as iceland and ireland, coincidentally island - states, with a sad experience of what happens when banks become reckless and take excessive risks. here, we are far from that kind of situation. i think it is legitimate to ask ourselves if our banks are just possibly focusing too much on their bottom line, to the detriment of the top line for the country as a whole? and if so, we should examine what measures we could take to get credit flowing again to the sectors in need. we should put our money to work for the people. that is the business of banks : fuelling business. so, there we are facing this sinister trinity of mit, elt and blt. if we become complacent with our recent success, and rest on our oars, if we end up believing the picture - perfect image of our island of our tourist brochures, we run the risk of being swept downstream. if we do not carefully navigate our way out of the troubled waters that these

speech by the governor of the reserve bank of malawi mr dalitso kabambe, phd on the official launch of tip - offs anonymous programme 11 july 2017 statement by the reserve bank of malawi governor, dalitso kabambe, phd on the official launch of the rbm tip - offs anonymous scheme - the director, of the anti - corruption bureau, mr lucas kondowe ; - the director, financial intelligence authority, mrs atuweni juwayeyi - agbermodji ; - the representative from deloitte tip - offs anonymous, mrs vanda phekani ; - the deputy governor, corporate services, ms meg kajiyanike ; - the deputy governor, economics and regulation, dr grant p. kabango ; - members of staff in the reserve bank ; - members of the press here present ; - distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. cashgate is the worst tragedy this nation has witnessed in modern times. our nation has been taken backwards many years while our sister countries from within the region and beyond have progressed. we have learnt bitter lessons and bounce back as an economy, we need to move with renewed commitment and zeal to fight corruption in all its forms in all our places. this is the reason why, among the core principles, his excellency prof arthur peter mutharika, the president of the republic of malawi, is advocating that we must be a nation not only of hard working and patriotism but also of high integrity. when i got appointed on 21st april, this year, when i was asked about priorities, i included one where the reserve bank of malawi plays a central role in ensuring that no public money under any circumstances to be pilfered through theft. i am delighted therefore today that i am joined by the director of the anti - corruption bureau, mr lucas kondowe, the director of the financial intelligence authority, mrs atuweni juwayeyi - agbermodji and the deloitte ’ s representative mrs vanda phekani, as we launch the first scheme towards the fight against corruption in the rbm and on public resources. in a few days ’ time from today, the rbm will also be launching another scheme, whereby for any payment above a particular threshold, say k5 million, from government resources, an alert in form of a text message will be sent to the minister of finance, the secretary to the treasury, the accountant general and the budget director and the respective minister