the partnership with the oecd and the world bank, we can make our financial literacy programme sharper so that we can make rapid progress in our pursuit of financial inclusion and financial literacy. i also thank dr. k. c. chakrabarty, deputy governor, reserve bank of india, for steering us through the process of hosting this conference and also agreeing to deliver the welcome address. sir, we thank you for your guidance and innovative thoughts. your address has clearly set out the essentials of effective financial inclusion and financial education and given a succinct account of the efforts taken by the government, the reserve bank, other financial sector regulators and financial institutions towards this cause. i thank all the delegates in this conference for making time to attend. i thank the distinguished invitees present here for attending the function with warm enthusiasm. i thank all my colleagues from the reserve bank for their participation. i also thank the media for covering this event. it would not have been possible to hold an event of such scale and magnitude without the wholehearted support and commitment of our colleagues in the reserve bank of india, new delhi office, ably led by the regional director. i thank them all for their support. thank you all, once again. bis central bankers ’ speeches

in the trade around us dollars 6. 0 billion by end 2016. account increased by 3. 7 per cent to us moreover, despite considerable dollars 7. 2 billion during the first ten depreciation pressure on the rupee months of 2016. supporting the external during some months, the rupee sector, earnings from tourism is remained relatively stable in 2016 estimated to have increased to around compared to the previous year. it has us dollars 3. 0 billion during the first central bank of sri lanka – road map 2017 depreciated by 3. 8 per cent during the during 2016, several policy measures year. were implemented by the central bank, fiscal policy in 2016 has been directed towards strengthening the fiscal consolidation process. reflecting the positive impact of the strenuous efforts of the government, fiscal performance has indicated an improvement during 2016. government revenue has continued its increasing trend while in line with international standards and best practices, to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory framework pertaining to licensed banks. key banking sector indicators remained at healthy levels, while the nonbank sector performed despite stringent fiscal and macroprudential measures. maintaining expenditure at the desired meanwhile, the national payment level. the government is certain that the systems of the country operated announced budget deficit of 5. 4 per cent smoothly without any major disruption of gdp will be achieved in 2016, and it while facilitating the growing and will be reduced further to 4. 6 per cent in changing payment needs of the financial 2017. sector with improved efficiency and safety. central bank of sri lanka – road map 2017 3. monetary policy strategy and policies for 2017 and beyond a coherent and clear macroeconomic macroeconomic policy framework in framework, is important to achieve our the country, built upon three key areas. objectives. the government is in the process of among the key elements of the overall taking decisive measures to address the macroeconomic framework, price long felt deficiencies in its budgetary stability is an important pillar. price operations through a new fiscal stability is interpreted to mean low, framework, aimed at strengthening stable and predictable levels of inflation, fiscal sustainability in the medium - term. which is conducive for fostering this framework is embedded in the imf - sustainable long - term economic growth eff arrangement. and employment in a country. price stability is instrumental in keeping nominal interest rates low, thereby enabling an economy to exploit its growth potential, while both consumers and producers can make economic decisions with confidence and certainty. these efforts will complement the expected improvements of the central bank