with the telco industry that is not only helping its growth but also ensuring quality of services and connectivity. while we seek to encourage the introduction of innovative instruments for payments, we are also mindful of the need to ensure that high levels of service standards that are required to be maintained for safety, security and cost effectiveness with adequate levels for protection of consumers ’ interests. in conclusion, let me re - emphasize on the need for an efficient and thriving banking system that guarantees superior services with enhanced access with higher returns to the stakeholders and also create both forward and backward linkages with the rest of the economy. as a financial regulator, state bank is open to provide an enabling regulatory environment to all financial institutions for advancing and promoting financial inclusion in the country. providing people with access to finance is a challenging task, not just for the central bank but for all the stakeholders. i believe that with the concerted efforts of all, we will be able to achieve the desired goal of “ banking for all ”. with the opening of atm at the karachi press club, i am sure all members would be facilitated with access to banking from within the club ’ s premises. my best wishes to you all. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches

to china ( 200 % ), malaysia ( 162 % ), hong kong ( 443 % ), singapore ( 185 % ) and philippines ( 61 % ). • equity market capitalization as a percentage of gdp in pakistan was 31 % in 2005. although now it has increased to 40 % and in fact, went up to 44 % in april 2006, but it is still substantially low relative to malaysia ( 141 % ), thailand ( 67 % ) and korea ( 90 % ). • likewise, the volume of bonds outstanding as a percent of gdp is merely 5. 5 % in pakistan compared to malaysia ( 90 % ), singapore ( 68 % ) and china ( 27 % ), although in china the bulk of these bonds are sovereign. while pakistan has definitely improved quite a bit, when we compare ourselves to the region, we are still lagging far behind and for me this is where we should strive to make more inroads. in my view, not only is there more room for banking assets to grow, but more fundamentally, there is now need to finally jolt the non - bank financial sector more strongly. it is indeed noteworthy that the growth of kse 3 conservative estimates, as stated in the medium term development framework, 2005 - 2010, planning commission of pakistan. karachi stock exchange market capitalization has risen from under 2000 points to over 10, 000 points in the last few years, and went on to record highs of 12, 274 points on april 17, 2006. average daily turnover is remarkable, which, at 525 million shares, makes kse one of the most liquid markets. likewise the p / e ratio of 9. 45 is extremely attractive when compared with average price earning ratios of neighboring countries. likewise, kse ’ s dividend yield ratio also offers good prospects relative to other emerging markets. however, i still maintain that pakistan ’ s capital market lacks sufficient depth, breath and maturity. it is prone to structural vulnerabilities and manipulation. this is confirmed by the decline in the number of listed companies from 762 in the year 2000 to 658 in 2006. moreover, as i have already mentioned, market capitalization as a percentage of gdp is still low and there are very few listed debt securities. but there are promising prospects and with various stakeholders ’ efforts, the stock market has achieved many milestones. the stock exchanges have fully automated the trading system with a t + 3 settlement cycle. the shares are traded in dematerialized form and settlement