also resulted in some countries requiring significant amounts of debt to bail them out of the crisis. this environment has ameliorated somewhat, but continues to simmer in the eurozone, where greece, notably, has gone through some major difficulties. the affected countries in many cases have been the traditional donor and investor countries. the knock on effect of these changes is that many corporations have scaled back on their corporate expansion bis central bankers ’ speeches plans, donor countries and donor organizations have also put in place austerity measures resulting in less donor funding globally. chairperson, i am sure you would agree that against this background, it becomes imperative to ensure that the financial sector is sound and can withstand shocks, whether from within or external, as well as to have the capacity and capital to support local ventures including large corporate expansion programs. we have seen moves aimed at ensuring stability of the financial sector in places such as nigeria and ghana, where the capital requirements for banks were raised in recent times. in zambia we have also introduced new capital requirements for commercial banks that have to be in place by the end of this year. i am happy to inform you that the bank of zambia is working with each commercial bank to ensure that this requirement is met in order to strengthen the banking industry in zambia. ladies and gentlemen, the bank of zambia has also embarked on some key projects that shall have a lasting and beneficial bearing on the zambian economy, such as the rebasing of the zambian currency as well as the branchless banking initiative. the currency rebasing shall be implemented effective 1 january 2013, and is expected to bring efficiency in the zambian currency as a medium of exchange and store of value. as you may be aware, the bank is re - introducing coins which will encourage the use of mechanisms such as pay phones, vending machines, car parking meters and other related technologies. mr. chairperson, according to the finscope zambia survey conducted in 2009 only 33, 7 % of zambian adults have access to financial services, leaving 66, 3 % financially excluded. this is despite the growth in the number of banks and indeed branches in zambia. it is obvious that at the current growth rate of the penetration of banking services, if this is left to traditional banks alone, it may mean that the majority of zambians will be financially excluded for a long time to come. ladies and gentlemen, given the above challenge, it is quite appropriate to conclude that the mobile payments industry provides zambia with a unique opportunity to

bandid nijathaworn : how strong are thai banks to weather the turmoil? keynote address by dr bandid nijathaworn, deputy governor of the bank of thailand, at the fitch thailand ’ s 2008 annual conference, 10 september 2008. * * * thank you, chairman. first, let me thank fitch thailand for the invitation to address this year ’ s conference as a keynote speaker. our topic this morning is “ how strong are thai banks to weather the turmoil? ” my answer is short and simple : thai banks are strong enough to weather the current global turmoil. the sector is also well positioned to support the economy. this is the message i gave six weeks ago when we had a press briefing at the bank of thailand. although conditions in the global economy and financial markets have changed somewhat since then, it is the same message of resiliency and strength that i want to echo to you this morning. i agree with the two previous speakers that global financial market conditions and growth prospects have further weakened especially in the past two months. in financial markets, we continue to see falling share price indices and increased spreads in a large number of us dollar products, including high - quality us corporate bonds, money market spreads, and bank credit default swaps. doubts about additional losses by banks in major economies also persist and this has made it more difficult for banks to raise capital. as a result, funding costs for households and businesses in the major economies have risen as banks continue to tighten credit standards, which is not positive for growth. on account of this, global growth prospects seem to have further weakened, while the decline in oil price have helped ease concerns about global inflation. future direction of the oil price, however, is still very much uncertain. the global economy and conditions in the global financial markets, therefore, have become more challenging, and they are likely to have important implications for emerging markets through the usual trade and financial channels. this is, therefore, an important area that we need to pay close attention to in the next few months. under the current global setting, a decline in oil price will be positive for emerging markets like thailand, and as a group, the growth prospect of emerging markets should remain satisfactory given their abilities to support domestic demand. but questions remain about individual economies on how resilient they would be in the face of such shocks, including the banking sector. in the thai case, our assessment is that the thai banking sector is strong enough to weather the current turmoil