first commenced operations in colombo. today, the largest foreign bank operating in sri lanka has moved to jaffna bringing banking to the doorsteps of people in the northern province. this is indeed a historic milestone. this development did not happen by chance. it did not take place automatically. with the liberation of our entire nation in may last year, the government and the central bank have taken determined efforts to expand financial services, facilitate and stimulate economic activities, and develop infrastructure in the north and the east. in fact, i have personally participated at several bank branch openings during the last few months, and our officers have been following up the progress, and these outcomes are a result of such combined efforts. today, i can proudly say that an ever - growing number of financial institutions operate in the north and that these provide diverse financial services, whilst of course we would be the first to admit that a lot more needs to be done. my dear friends, the development and maintenance of essential public infrastructure is an important ingredient for sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. in particular, health, education, electricity, housing and efficient water and sanitation services help lay the groundwork for a productive and healthy population, capable of contributing to sustained economic growth. we all know that as a result of the long and bloody conflict, the infrastructure facilities in the north could not be developed as done in the other provinces. it is due to that fact that, with a view to fast tracking the development in the north, the government has now launched a well - planned, integrated, accelerated development program titled “ vadakkin vasantham. ” under this program, the government expects to invest approximately rs. 295 billion ( us $ 2. 7 billion ) during the next 3 years, towards rehabilitation and development activities. this program is expected to cover the rehabilitation of roads and other transportation infrastructure, the upgrading of electricity for domestic housing and industry, water supply, agriculture and irrigation infrastructure and the improvement of the manufacturing framework. the government also intends to implement a special poverty reduction program and establish the required social safety net, quickly. my dear friends, as we all know, the speedy resettlement of the internally displaced people has also been a top priority for the government. towards this goal, many extraordinary efforts have been taken. out of the over 300, 000 internally displaced persons who were rescued and had to be temporarily housed in welfare camps, over 217, 000 or 72 % have already been resettled. all those from vavuniya, mann

. special emphasis was placed on the far - flung areas, in the northern and southern parts of the country, cognizant of the heavy use of cash in those regions. to identify any emerging concerns and facilitate their resolution, a robust feedback mechanism including some strategic surveys was also deployed. third, for the demonetization to be successful it was essential that existing measures on antimoney laundering ( aml ) and combatting financing of terrorism ( cft ) be applied fully. these measures ensured that illicit funds were filtered out, and not exchanged or enter the financial system. commercial banks, forex bureaus, and payment service providers ( psp ) have over the last few years strengthened their aml / cft screening, which proved a strong foundation for the demonetisation. additionally, reporting and monitoring was scaled up, with positive results — during this period cbk conducted 15 targeted inspections on financial institutions, and over 3, 000 suspicious transaction reports ( strs ) were reported for further investigation. fourth, a collaborative approach with other official entities was adopted to buttress the strategy. investigative agencies were brought on board to examine the available information for evidence of crimes. other central banks were also roped in to ensure that escape of counterfeiters and perpetrators of illicit funds through those jurisdictions was thwarted. this approach is akin to an army overwhelming the enemy by attacking on all flanks at once. as the sun set on demonetization on september 30, 2019, inflation, the exchange rate and other key macroeconomic indicators remained stable. there were no last minute panic queues outside banking halls — the awareness campaign had been effective and ordinary kenyans had exchanged their notes in good time. at midnight when the operation was concluded, old series ksh. 1, 000 notes valued at ksh. 7. 4 billion had not been exchanged and became worthless. demonetisation marks a single step in the fight against illicit finance and corruption more generally. sustained efforts are needed to deliver victory. the strong aml / cft filters that were applied will continue to be deployed. the information already gathered will also support further investigations by law enforcement agencies. but most importantly, we have created a launch pad for progress towards using less cash for transactions, as we increasingly embrace the readily available mobile and electronic channels. this will make it harder to launder ill - gotten funds, and for cash - based corruption to survive. the successful conclusion of demonetization is a testament to careful preparation by cbk and close