how to reach sepa? in essence, financial integration is achieved when three conditions are fulfilled : ( 1 ) singleness of the market, ( 2 ) market participants ’ equal access to the market, and ( 3 ) market participants ’ equal treatment in the market. for the retail payments markets, this means that market participants must be subject to a single set of rules when dealing with payment instruments or services, have equal access to the payment services or products, and be treated equally. i see three main barriers which have to be removed if the euro area is to become a more integrated retail payments market. these are the technical, commercial and legal barriers which exist between the current national payment markets. the first barrier is a technical barrier. of particular importance for sepa is the development of common technical standards, which enable the smooth connection of systems and the transfer of messages between different players. technical standards are the basis for payment systems, and could also be referred to as the “ plumbing ” of the financial system, ensuring the transfer of funds. national fragmentation through standards should belong to the past and common standards for the euro area should be in place. the ecb fully supports the work of the epc in this field, which has cooperated with the international standards organisation ( iso ) to develop these standards. the second barrier is a commercial barrier. for sepa, the development of a common set of rules and business practices is a necessity. this is referred to as the “ rulebooks ” that ensure a common treatment for transferring funds. the epc has agreed on the common rulebooks for credit transfers and direct debits, and a framework for card payments. this single set of rules will allow different entities to provide core services throughout the euro area. the ecb fully supports the epc ’ s work in this field. we also subscribe to the concept of separating the rules from the processing services, as it will allow operations on a european scale and bring an end to vertical integration, in which scheme rules are set by the processors. the third barrier is the legal barrier. the current regulatory differences across the euro area hinder the provision of efficient and automated services throughout the euro area. the proposed payment services directive will remove these legal barriers. the directive – and there we are privileged to have later on the explanations of mr mccreevy - will create a clear and homogenous framework for making payments in euro. the eurosystem strongly supports the work on the directive, as it will establish

ishrat husain : why privatisation is necessary for economic growth in pakistan? address by mr ishrat husain, governor of the state bank of pakistan, at the 11th get together of the overseas universities alumni club and the 21st century business & economics club, karachi, 12 august 2005. * * * the decade of 1970s in pakistan witnessed a massive redistribution of national assets from the private owners to the state. the reason underlying the then government ’ s thinking for this extremely radical action was that the national wealth was being concentrated in the hands of few families and the rich were getting richer and the poor getting poorer. it was asserted by the proponents of this strategy that the state control over allocation of the resources would promote the best interests of the poor. the intellectual support for this strategy was drawn from the success of the soviet union and the socialist economic model practised in that part of the world. two decades later it turned out that these assertions and assumptions that drove this particular line of action i. e. nationalization was not only unrealistic and flawed but the consequences were exactly opposite to what the intentions were. the collapse of the soviet union and the bankruptcy of the socialist model eroded the ideological underpinning of this strategy and the actual results on the ground in pakistan and almost all the developing countries shattered the ideal and utopian dreams of the proponents of this philosophy. pakistan ’ s public enterprises including banks became a drain on the country ’ s finances through continuous hemorrhaging and leakages and a drag on the economic growth impulses. the poor instead of benefiting from the state ’ s control over these assets were actually worse off as almost rs. 100 billion a year were spent out of the budget annually on plugging the losses of these corporations, banks and other enterprises. these public enterprises became the conduit for employing thousands of supporters of political parties that assumed power in the country in rapid succession and a source of patronage, perks and privileges for the ministers and the favoured bureaucrats appointed to manage these enterprises. these employees and managers had neither the managerial expertise nor technical competence to carry out the job. instead of providing goods & services to the common citizens at competitive prices efficiently, the public enterprises turned into avenues for loot and plunder, inefficient provision of services and production of shoddy goods. it was a common knowledge that getting a telephone connection in pakistan required years not months and that too with the help of sifarish and exchange of