sada reddy : national economic update and a path to sustainable tourism growth presentation by mr sada reddy, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, to the fiji tourism forum 2009, suva, 14 august 2009. * * * introduction distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen i am delighted to be here today to provide an economic update on the fiji economy in the context of the global economic crisis and share some thoughts on how to make tourism growth in fiji more sustainable. ladies and gentlemen, in light of the global economic and financial meltdown over the last 2 years, economies the world over are grappling with policy issues that will usher in economic development, progress and stability. for most of these countries, major adjustments and paradigm shifts were required. people needed to think outside of the box and move out of their comfort zone. the situation also demanded them to think creatively and in some cases implement very unpopular policies to work themselves out of the economic and financial challenges. in the quest to be more competitive and survive in this world, which is increasingly becoming a challenge for countries like us, we need to constantly review our performance, identify the constraints to our progress and be willing to shift paradigms to realise our goals. it is logical that change will often be resisted and initially difficult to accept. but if we are determined in our efforts and have a clear vision of where we want to go and what we want to achieve, then our determination, enthusiasm and creative thinking will not be restrained. our country is at a juncture now when we need to direct our energy to making the economy grow. to make the economy grow and grow sustainably, we need to reform. the key word in this regard is reforms. this is a word that is sometimes viewed with scepticism. all sorts of thoughts preoccupy the mind at the mention of reform, most common of which is that people will lose their jobs. whilst this is understandable, we need to dismiss this myth. as has been proven around the world, reforms are necessary. they allow for more efficient and effective operations. reforms enable a country to manage its resources well and gain mileage in their usage. it also facilitates the generation of government revenue and improved government funding position. reforms help attract investment. the ease of doing business in fiji in this regard therefore becomes critical. the global economy is competing for the same dollar. we have not ranked well under the world bank ’ s ranking of the ease of doing business. singapore is ranked first in

nicholas garganas : the greek economy within the euro area address by mr nicholas c garganas, deputy governor of the bank of greece, to the hellenic american bankers association, new york, 23 april 2002. * * * it gives me great pleasure to be able to address you today about the transformation of the greek economy over the last few years. since the beginning of 2001, greece has been participating in the euro area as its 12th member. her entry to the euro area reflects the substantial progress which was made with macroeconomic stabilisation and convergence of the greek economy to those of the other euro area member states. disinflation, helped significantly by the monetary and exchange rate policies pursued by the bank of greece, alongside fiscal consolidation, ensured that the maastricht treaty criteria for euro area entry were all met by early 2000. introduction of euro notes and coins from 1 january 2002, greece, along with the other countries of the euro area, introduced euro notes and coins. the operation, conducted swiftly and smoothly, and warmly welcomed by the public, has gone remarkably well. the success is all the more remarkable as greece effectively had two years less than the other euro area countries to prepare for the physical introduction of the euro, since it became a member of the euro area only from the beginning of 2001. while the cash changeover represented the concluding act of the move to the single currency, many of the benefits of the euro materialized even before joining emu. the successful cash changeover, which marks a further move towards successful integration with eu partner countries, will reinforce these positive effects. sound economic fundamentals thanks to the successful nominal convergence process in the second half of the 1990s, which was a condition for joining emu, greece can now count on sound economic fundamentals and macroeconomic stability. fiscal consolidation was rewarded last year by the general government position being in balance ; public debt, although still high at just under 100 per cent of gdp at the end of 2001, has been declining continuously from its peak of just over 111 per cent in 1996. one of the most remarkable economic developments of recent years has been greece ’ s success in restoring low inflation. consumer inflation averaged 17. 25 per cent in the twenty - year period to 1994. by mid - 1999 it had fallen to about 2 per cent. rising inflation after the autumn of 1999 can mainly be attributed to higher oil prices and depreciation of the drachma, which, in turn, reflected the weakness of the