in the us and eu financial markets as trading moves to electronic platforms. 23. in asia, there is room for our financial markets to embrace greater “ electronification ” of trading, notwithstanding our smaller markets. to illustrate, an estimated 80 % of trades are bis central bankers ’ speeches executed in electronic platforms in developed country fx markets, whereas 85 % of fx trades in asia are still executed by voice. a reduction in transaction costs can promote greater liquidity for asian asset classes, and broaden participation from investors including retail traders. iii. growing regional and international role of the rmb 24. let me go on to the third theme i wanted to talk about, which is that of rmb internationalisation, and how this will shape asia ’ s financial markets development. 25. the status quo will not last. currently, only 0. 6 % of global payments are settled in rmb, vastly below china ’ s share of global trade ( 10 % ) or investment flows. there is clearly room for growth. 26. in the long run, if we envisage china with deep and liquid capital markets, and a largely liberalised capital account, the rmb market will potentially play a transformational role in asian finance. for now, even with limited convertibility, there is considerable potential for greater use of the rmb. the economic fundamentals are driving this. besides china ’ s growing share of global trade, there is a rapidly growing trade between china and the rest of the asian region, and especially asean. further, china ’ s foreign direct investments are expanding strongly, especially into asian markets. outbound foreign direct investment ( fdi ) from china has increased almost seven - fold in the last seven years ( to us $ 77 billion in 20123 ), and is expected to expand further in the coming decade. a growing part of this fdi is expected to be rmb - denominated, and this too will contribute to greater offshore use of the rmb. 27. the overseas expansion of chinese corporates will be reinforced by the growing presence of mainland chinese banks as they grow their regional and international presence. in singapore, we extended qualifying full bank ( qfb ) privileges to bank of china and icbc as part of the china - singapore fta. both banks are growing their singapore operations as southeast asian hubs. we are also seeing interest from other chinese financial institutions. 28. the re - denomination of china ’ s trading flows in rmb will allow asian corporate and

ashraf mahmood wathra : the importance of financial inclusion in pakistan speech by mr ashraf mahmood wathra, as acting governor of the state bank of pakistan, at the bank alfalah mobile commerce conference 2014, karachi, 13 march 2014. * * * assalam - o - aalaikum and good morning it is my great pleasure to join you at the international conference & exhibition on mobile commerce in pakistan, and share with you some of my thoughts on this important subject. i must congratulate the organizers and sponsors for their efforts in bringing together the stakeholders of mobile banking eco - system at one platform. being a regulator of banking sector, sbp believes that financial exclusion is hindering our fellow citizens in availing economic and business opportunities. today, there are an estimated 2. 5 billion adult people worldwide who do not have access to formal financial services. according to world bank ’ s global findex survey, almost 80 percent of those living within incomes of less than $ 2 per day are financially excluded. pakistan is a country of over 180 million people living in geographically diverse areas. our branch network of almost 12, 700 is insufficient to serve the millions of unbanked masses. banks operating in pakistan are hosting only 35 million customer accounts including 3. 5 million accounts opened by branchless banking providers. despite phenomenal spread of banking business in pakistan, we have a long way to go to achieve digital financial inclusion in the country. given the complexities and challenges of limited financial access in the country, state bank of pakistan has adopted a multi - pronged and long - term strategy to address financial exclusion through structured policy & regulatory actions, and market - development interventions. our program initiatives have been catalysing the market developments and fostering market ecosystem to especially promote innovative ways of doing banking business. as we all know that people around the world increasingly use technology and communication networks to live, work, socialize and remain informed and entertained through the use of online services via personal devices like pcs, smartphones and computer tablets. therefore online and other - off - branch modes of doing banking transactions have reduced the hassle of visiting a conventional bank branch to a considerable extent. ladies & gentlemen, pakistan is amongst the pioneers of mobile / branchless banking in the developing world. our branchless banking framework and models have achieved worldwide recognition and remarkable success in a short span of four and a half years. this could not have been possible without an effective and enabling regulatory regime, dynamic