a feature of the contagion effects in many advanced countries and emerging market economies. indeed, the failure of lehmann brothers, an erstwhile reputable investment bank delivered a major jolt to the crisis of confidence in the global financial system, heightening fears of insecurity on the part of all market players ( consumers, investors, borrowers and lenders alike ). indeed, the fallout of the financial crisis for financial institutions has been dramatic. major financial institutions such as aig ( american insurance group ), merrill lynch, and northern rock have had to be bailed out through capitalization with public funds or nationalization, because they are “ too big ” to fail or “ too coupled ” with other institutions to be allowed to fail. many others have simply declared bankruptcy and failed. for developing countries such as ours, this crisis threatens to roll back the considerable progress of recent years in terms of economic growth and financial stability, prospects for improved standards of living, and provision of social safety nets, should the contagion become more severe and the impact not mitigated and well managed. ghana has not been immune to the effects of the crisis but the impact has been limited. with the deepening global recession, the flow of remittances, a significant source of foreign exchange resources, seems to have slowed down. prices of ghana ’ s major exports commodities ( gold and cocoa ) remain reasonably firm, while oil prices have retreated for sometime on the international markets. let me add, however that the global conditions remain fluid, especially with regard to capital flows and investments needed to support growth in developing countries. one fundamental lesson from the global financial crisis is that a sound financial sector is vital to the health of the economy. over the past years, the financial sector has been built on a strong regulatory and supervisory framework and a modern payments and settlement infrastructure. this has facilitated the development of a banking sector that is reasonably efficient, financially innovative, competitive, profitable, and growing quite rapidly. the size of the balance sheet of the banking system expanded by 37. 2 percent to 52. 5 percent of gdp in 2008, from 37. 3 percent of gdp in 2003. total deposits have risen to 34. 2 percent of gdp from 23. 4 percent of gdp in 2003. the industry now has a branch network of 642 compared with 332 in 2003. mr. chairman, the ghanaian banking sector is on a sound footing and well - positioned to strengthen its intermediation role. the direct links

mark carney : opening statement for appearance before the standing senate committee on banking, trade and commerce opening statement by mr mark carney, governor of the bank of canada, to the standing senate committee on banking, trade and commerce, ottawa, ontario, 22 june 2011. * * * good afternoon, mr. chairman and committee members. tiff and i are pleased to appear today to discuss the bank of canada ’ s analyses of the economic outlook and the stability of the financial system. we look forward to your questions and the discussion that follows. the bank ’ s most recent comprehensive assessment of the economy was presented in its april monetary policy report ( mpr ). on 31 may, the bank issued its latest policy rate announcement. these provide the basis for my comments today. please bear in mind that the bank ’ s next full economic analysis will be published in the upcoming mpr, which will be released on 20 july 2011. i will also take a few moments this afternoon to outline the highlights of the bank ’ s financial system review ( fsr ), which was released just this morning. the fsr reviews developments in the financial system and identifies potential vulnerabilities. beginning with the economic outlook : the global recovery is proceeding broadly as we had expected in april. the u. s. economy continues to grow at a modest pace, limited by the consolidation of household balance sheets. growth in europe is maintaining momentum, although the risks related to peripheral economies have clearly increased. the disasters that struck japan in march are severely affecting its economic activity and are also causing temporary supply chain disruptions in advanced economies, including canada. although commodity prices have declined recently, they are expected to remain at elevated levels, supported by tight global supply and very strong demand from emerging markets. these high prices, combined with persistent excess demand conditions in major emerging - market economies, are contributing to broader global inflationary pressures. despite the challenges that weigh on the global outlook, financial conditions remain very stimulative. in the short term, economic growth in canada is expected to slow to modest rates, due to a number of temporary factors. these include the supply chain disruptions that will dampen automotive production, as well as the drag from adjusting to higher energy prices on consumer spending in canada and the united states. overall, a broad rebalancing of demand in canada is underway as the economic expansion progresses. business investment is now growing strongly, and contributions to growth from both household consumption and government spending are dimini