in the rural co - operative credit system. it is also necessary to ensure improvements in their governance and financial management. in the banking system as a whole, a healthy credit culture encompassing appropriate pricing, quality of service, financial inclusion and contract - enforcement would be vital. while the larger corporates have already acquired considerable freedom in accessing funds from a variety of sources such as banks, non - banks, capital markets, and external resources, the small and medium enterprises, agriculture sector, artisans and the informal sector as a whole, remain to be demonstrably benefited. for the way ahead, for the financial sector as whole, given the strong foundations and basic institutional framework, the issues relate to the pace of further deregulation and liberalisation, consistent with the progress of reform in the real and fiscal sectors. in practice, within the given legal framework, priorities have to be formulated to ensure implementation in tune with the evolving domestic and external developments. the reserve bank of india has, in the service of our country, a proven track record and professionalism, which have lent it considerable credibility - both domestically and globally. this credibility enables the rbi to confidently carry the reforms forward to credibly maintain price and financial stability, while enabling self - accelerating equitable growth at elevated levels. thank you.

an ongoing basis. all in all, our financial system provides a range of services that pretty much satisfies the needs of barbadian households and large and well established businesses. however, venture capital is in short supply, and the fixed investment needs of small and medium sized enterprise continue to be a challenge for us. our session this afternoon will explore this conundrum. impact of the crisis the global recession which is dated from the september 15 2008 lehman bankruptcy, had little effect on the barbadian financial system, with the one important exception of clico. as might have been expected, the weakness of the barbadian economy resulted in late and incomplete debt service by some firms and households, but in the typical case a workout arrangement was put in place. on the other hand, government maintained its perfect service record, both for domestic and foreign debt. bis central bankers ’ speeches changes in business finance the most noticeable changes in financial transactions in recent times have been on the foreign exchange market. the interbank market is now inactive, in contrast to the situation up to a decade ago, when daily interbank transactions of a modest size were the norm. large customers of the banks have corporate treasuries which manage their transactions and exposures in several currencies, matching exposures by currency so as to minimise net exposure in foreign exchange, and reduce the transactions costs of currency conversion. we have looked into this phenomenon at this conference in years past, and when we meet with banks we invariably discuss how the market is evolving. some businesses appear to have achieved a degree of independence of their bankers, with respect to foreign currency receipts and payments. in so far as this facilitates payment of imports out of private firms'foreign earnings, there is no problem with that arrangement. our programme today includes an update on the financial system, a presentation on cyber security, investment options for insurance companies, the view from the credit union sector, a new look at banking subsidiaries, and a panel on equity finance. it is a varied menu, and one that is certain to be instructive. we expect to have a productive day. bis central bankers ’ speeches