to each other also forges the links within the swedish banking system even tighter. a natural counterparty for the swedish banks could be the swedish life insurance and pension companies. these companies have long - term liabilities in kronor in the form of pension savings that they partly invest in assets abroad. at present, these companies are not active on the long - term currency swap markets to any great extent. the swedish banks are therefore dependent on a tight circle of counterparties on the currency swap markets. a small and concentrated market means in turn that there is a considerable risk of disruptions and contagion effects. bis central bankers ’ speeches long - term assets and short - term funding in foreign currencies create risks swedish banks have substantial assets in foreign currencies and also have a deposit deficit, that is they are dependent on market funding. as a large part of this market funding is short term, a liquidity risk in foreign currency also arises. the us dollar is a currency for which this risk is clear. following the collapse of lehman brothers, when the dollar market was practically closed for a while, the riksbank needed to lend the equivalent of almost 250 billion kronor in us dollars to the banking system to prevent the liquidity risk spreading to the real economy. however, as the riksbank cannot create liquidity in foreign currencies in the same way as it can in swedish kronor, there are limits on the size of the liquidity risks the banks can take in foreign currencies without posing risks to financial stability. there are therefore good reasons for the banks to examine the matching of the maturities of their assets and liabilities in foreign currencies. the market for bank certificates in kronor has shrunk it is not only long - term funding that takes place in foreign currencies. a large part of the banks ’ short - term funding also takes place in foreign currencies, mainly us dollars and euros. the swedish banks are, for example, important counterparties for us money - market funds. sweden is the second - largest european market for the money - market funds – larger than the united kingdom or germany. although this indicates a high level of confidence in the swedish banks, it also entails risks. during the crisis, we saw that the money - market funds were among the more volatile investors. a high degree of funding from the moneymarket funds also makes the banks dependent on us regulatory frameworks and legislative processes

marion williams : information technology and education - investing in our future welcome address by dr marion williams, governor of the central bank of barbados, at the opening ceremony of the information technology fair “ information technology and education : investing in our future ”, bridgetown, 8 november 2004. * * * minister of education and sports, the honourable reginald farley ; partners in this project, representatives of commercial banks, principals of secondary schools, teachers and students of the four schools touring the exhibition this morning, management and staff of the central bank, ladies and gentlemen : it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the central bank for the information technology ( it ) fair for students of secondary schools. our theme for this it fair is “ information technology and education - investing in our future ”. it is an innovative addition to the bank ’ s secondary schools ’ outreach programme which the bank has sponsored for over two decades. the central bank ’ s outreach programme was started in the 1980 ’ s as the bank attempted to raise the level of economic intelligence in barbados through a sustained educational programme. the bank was of the view that constituents of the bank and future employees, leaders and business people, should be targeted through a continuing educational programme in economics. hence, the schools ’ outreach programme was started. it initially targeted business students through its lectures on the economy, and was coordinated by our first public relations officer, carl moore. in recent times, however, the bank has expanded the programme to include topics such as finance and accounting, investing, the stock exchange, csme and others. the programme has helped the students to better grasp subjects that are often considered too technical, or even too difficult, as we have tried to present the lectures in a simple manner. to achieve this, we have insisted that lecturers draw on every day experiences to explain difficult concepts. additionally, i am informed that students have found that the interaction and exchanges with the bank ’ s economists have assisted them in preparing for the school based assessment projects and their examinations in the caribbean secondary education certificate ( csec ) and caribbean advanced proficiency examinations ( cape ) programmes. on that note, i wish to commend the research department and public affairs for sustaining this programme that is so integral to the bank ’ s community outreach. dr. daniel boamah and his team, and before that dr. delisle worrell and his team, have done an excellent job in making sure that our young people have a fuller understanding of economic affairs to take them through life