and intrusive policies of state, cooperative banks in india have successfully weathered several challenges during their century old existence and continued to grow in the competitive environment which emerged following the economic and financial sector reforms initiated in 1991. rbi has initiated several policy measures to strengthen the cooperative banking sector by gradually introducing the prudential norms and regulatory prescriptions on par with commercial banks. it is heartening to see that cooperative banks are showing keen interest in diversifying their business and broad - basing their clientele. one can hope that changes in the existing legal framework, supportive regulatory environment, adoption of technology and reorientation of business strategy can act as enablers for cooperative banks to contribute more meaningfully in the equitable economic growth across regions through their delivery model. 28. thank you all for your patient listening. bis central bankers ’ speeches

the rt hon sir edward george gbe : overview of recent financial and economic developments in iran speech by the rt hon sir edward george gbe, governor of the bank of england, at the iran invest 2000 conference, held in london, on 28 september 2000. * * * i am delighted to be able to take part in this conference, and particularly pleased to be sharing the platform this morning with governor mohsen nourbakhsh of the central bank of iran, bank markazi. i first met governor nourbakhsh soon after he became governor in 1994 - which was not an easy time for iran. i was immediately impressed not only by his command of the issues confronting him - which was perhaps not surprising : it was his second period in office as governor, having in the meantime taken a vacation as minister of economic affairs and finance, and as deputy to the president, with responsibility for economic affairs. but i was immediately impressed too by his calm and always reasoned approach and by his reliability. he has played an important role in steering his country through a difficult period to the more promising prospect that iran faces today. since our first meeting, i have very much enjoyed the opportunity of seeing the governor periodically at a whole series of international meetings, and it is a very great pleasure, mohsen, to be able to join in welcoming you here to london this morning. i have been immensely interested in - and greatly encouraged by - what you have had to tell us. perhaps i might add a few observations of my own - from my inevitably more distant perspective. for much of the past two or three years the external environment facing iran was a difficult one. the slowdown in world economic growth in the wake of the global financial crisis and the associated fall in oil prices - to an unsustainably low level - significantly weakened the financial positions of all major oil - exporting countries. iran was no exception. the current account swung from a surplus of 2. 2 % of gdp in 1997 / 98 to a deficit of over 2 %. and the fiscal position deteriorated to a deficit of 6. 7 % of gdp. but iran ’ s response to worsening economic conditions was a positive one. the authorities began to formulate a medium - term reform strategy, which has now been articulated as the third five year development plan. since then, the combination of sound economic management at home, coupled with continued economic expansion in the industrial countries and rising oil prices, have improved iran ’ s prospects