. 8 % while the economy grew by 5. 6 %. in 2011, the financial sector grew by 7. 8 % and the economy by 4. 4 %. this shows that the financial sector is deepening and that its growth is pulling the national economic growth with it. as the economy continues to recover and the government is rolling out infrastructure projects to increase the capacity for future economic growth, the financial sector will thrive and must stand ready to finance long - term projects to support this growth of the economy. indeed this impressive performance is an indication of our growing economy but also supported by the prudent risk management and regulatory reforms that continue to be put in place in line with best practice. as efforts progress towards a more developed financial sector, there is need to ensure fairness and transparency. the public needs to be furnished with reliable and adequate financial information. while discharging your duties therefore, be it as accountants, auditors or advisers of financial institutions, bear in mind that you play a critical role towards protecting and guiding the sector in the development of our economy. the constitution has two important contributions on this : the competition policy ( that lowers unit cost ) and consumer protection. these two important aspects will drive a healthy balance for the sector and the consumers of financial services. as icpak theme this year is in these lines, we consider you as partners in this important journey. ladies and gentlemen : the central bank in conjunction with government and all other stakeholders in the financial sector will continue the policy path of maintaining macroeconomic stability for development and financial inclusion for financial deepening and development even with frequent occurrences of economic shocks. ladies and gentlemen : it is now my honor and privilege to declare this conference with a very enviable theme officially open and to wish you fruitful deliberations. thank you bis central bankers ’ speeches

are segmented, requiring different and more specialized actors in some segments. dtms can be community based or nationwide with different core capital requirements of ksh. 30 million and ksh. 60 million, respectively. ii. agency banking effective 2nd january 2012, dtms were allowed to appoint third parties ( agents ) to offer specified dtm services on their behalf. this followed the successful rollout of agent banking by banks effective may 2010. so far eleven ( 11 ) banks have been granted approval to roll out their agency networks. eight ( 8 ) of these banks have appointed 11, 176 agents, which bis central bankers ’ speeches had executed over 18. 6 million transactions valued at over ksh. 93. 1 billion over the two year period to may 2012. iii. mobile phone financial services there has been tremendous growth in mobile phone financial services in the country. consequently, a number of institutions have initiated various innovations and new products to conveniently serve their customers and reduce the long queues that were previously experienced in banking halls. mobile phone money transfer services have been a phenomenal success and have put the country at the global centre stage of financial inclusion and innovation. in a country like ours with remote corners not served by financial institutions, mobile financial services has provided the answer. more importantly, our banks have easily integrated into their financial services with these technological platforms. the up - scaled level is now to use mobile phones to send money to savings accounts and credit provision through the same channels. this is already taking place with m - kesho type of products in the market. iv. credit information sharing the credit information sharing ( cis ) mechanism for banking institutions has successfully taken root with mandatory sharing of negative information on a monthly basis. all the 43 licensed commercial banks in kenya and institutions under the deposit protection fund board have been submitting negative credit information to the licensed credit reference bureaus ( crbs ) within the required timeframes. the banking act and the central bank of kenya act have now been amended to allow institutions licensed under both the banking act and the microfinance act to share both positive and negative credit information of their customers. this will go a long way in enriching the crbs database for the benefit of the entire banking sector and create objectivity in reporting. credit information sharing allows the market to build information capital for the financial sector in kenya. this will help build credit histories of borrowers and support a change of collateral technology in use currently. development of information capital will remove information as