group peer learning program on financial inclusion. the united nations now has her majesty queen maxima of the netherlands as their special advocate for inclusive finance for development and she is also honorary patron for the g20 global partnerships for financial inclusion. the alliance for financial inclusion held its latest annual global policy forum in malaysia in september. major regional and donor organisations such as the oecd, cgap, adb, ausaid and giz have been organising workshops and bis central bankers ’ speeches discussions on financial inclusion and there have been inter - regional country meetings such as those in africa and in asia. at the highest global levels, there is the clear recognition that deliberate financial inclusion measures and initiatives are essential if we are to reach the 2. 5 billion people who do not have access to any form of financial services and products and who remain in poverty. regional coverage in our own pacific region, we have come to also recognise the importance of embracing financial inclusion. in 2005, the united nations development programme estimated that around 6. 5 million pacific islanders and 80 percent of low income people1 did not have access to formal financial services, making it one of the most neglected regions in the world in terms of banking services. i am glad that the microfinance pasifika network took on the advocacy role in the pacific. in its vision statement, it says that “ … the network shall be committed to improving quality of life through the provision of inclusive and sustainable micro financial services, such as savings, credit, remittances and payment services and insurance, to the economically disadvantaged... ” however, i am also glad to say that our own central banks and authorities together with other committed stakeholders, have also taken on the baton theme of forum – importance of access and impact ladies and gentlemen, our theme, “ microfinance in the pacific – increasing access, enhancing impact ”, brings a number of questions to mind. how do we reach the unbanked or those that do not have access to microfinance or any form of financial service and how do we make a difference to their lives? technological innovation such questions require the capacity to think outside the box. the problems and the difficulties are such that one cannot approach and derive a solvable position in many cases unless one takes a non traditional and non conventional approach to problem solving. this calls for innovative thinking. our problems in the pacific are fairly similar. we are small island countries that are dispersed over a wide area of sea. our economic growth rates

objective of the ecb is to achieve this over the medium term, any forecast, which is for example based on constant interest rates, does not take into account that monetary policy takes action in time to ensure price stability. in other words, while forecasts may inform interest rate decisions, there should, in principle, never be any doubt that after the ecb ’ s decision the outlook for price developments should be in line with price stability. in this context, it would then be problematic to send signals into the public debate, which could influence inflation expectations. furthermore, in the construction of forecasts, behavioural, institutional and structural uncertainties should not be overlooked. large uncertainties can make forecasting price and other developments in the euro area inevitably difficult. forecasts have therefore to be interpreted with great caution and an assessment has to be supplemented by an evaluation of risks and uncertainties underlying the forecast. therefore, publishing just a single number for the inflation outlook would clearly be misleading. instead, a careful interpretation of the results is required in order to exploit the signals for monetary policy purposes. before the ecb publishes any forecasts, it is crucial that we explain carefully the uncertainties surrounding it, the assumptions being made and to what extent then forecasts actually play a role in our decision. otherwise, publishing forecasts might finally increase uncertainty and even complicate the maintenance of price stability. let me point out that the ecb has set high standards in terms of openness, transparency and accountability. as part of its communication policy, the ecb provides the public and other policy makers regularly with timely and detailed information on the governing council ’ s assessment of monetary, financial and economic conditions in the euro area. this assessment reveals forward - looking information of the outlook for price developments as well as the risks to price stability. a statement of the president is released immediately after the first governing council meeting each month. this has the advantage of presenting the council ’ s assessment of the economic situation almost instantaneously after the meeting. each month the ecb publishes a bulletin providing additional background information to explain its current assessment of monetary, financial and other economic developments in more detail. once a year, the ecb releases an annual report on its activities to the european community institutions. gaining first experience the monetary policy strategy has passed its first tests successfully. in addition to the described elements of the strategy, consistency and transparency of the eurosystem ’ s monetary policy decisions were a crucial aspect. this can be best illustrated