, because they will be closely based both on national realities and international best practice. this emphasizes the need for close and continuous consultation in each country between the suppliers of payment services and the central banks as the overseer and regulator of the systems. the ultimate target of these consultations is to ensure the easy availability in each country of a payment system that meets the needs of its users, that enables the suppliers to cover their costs, and that does not absorb an excessive proportion of the national resources. that is why many regional payment system development initiatives have sprung up over the last few decades. for example, south african development community ( sadc payments initiative – 1996 ), the western hemisphere payments initiative ( 1999 ) ; the commonwealth independent states payments initiative ( 2004 ) ; and the arab payments initiative ( 2005 ) are some of the well functioning regional payment initiatives. the common objective of all these efforts is to identify possible measures for improving the safety, efficiency and integrity of the regional payment systems. 7. 4 the most demanding factor, common to all, is the rapidly changing global payment system infrastructure that is challenging the existence of domestic and regional payment systems, which are lagging behind. given the increasing sophistication of cross - border transactions, the need to mitigate risks involved in using outmoded infrastructure has to be given priority. the saarc payment system development strategy should therefore be designed to cater not only to the region ’ s present needs, but also its future demands. 8. how does the saarc payments initiative work? 8. 1 let me briefly set out the proposed institutional structure of the saarc payments initiative. 8. 2 by consensus, hon. governors of the saarc central banks requested the central bank of sri lanka to take the lead in this effort. we are happy to be the catalyst and promoter, but hope that at an appropriate time, this initiative will be driven by the other saarc member central banks. in consultation with the saarc governors, we have already appointed a saarc payments council ( spc ), which is composed of the chairpersons of the national payments councils ( npcs ) in each of the saarc member countries or by senior officials appointed by the governors of central banks in countries which do not have npcs. the npcs or payments committees will coordinate and liaise with all stakeholders in the payments area, in particular, banks and financial institutions, stock exchanges, securities traders, stock brokers, service providers,

are certainly welcome. moreover, in recent weeks, some other indicators suggest a stabilization or even a modest rebound in some segments of the economy. but activity in many parts of the economy has yet to pick up, and gdp is falling deeply below its recent peak. and, of course, despite the improvements seen in the may jobs report, the unemployment rate, at 13. 3 percent, remains historically high. after the extreme turbulence witnessed in march, financial markets across many sectors have normalized and are again serving their essential role of intermediating flows of savings and investment among borrowers and lenders. bank credit lines are providing liquidity to companies, and corporations with debt rated investment grade and high yield are able to issue, and in size, in the corporate bond market. i believe — and most outside observers agree — that this easing of financial conditions since march is, at least in part, the direct consequence of economic policy responses to the crisis, including the actions the federal reserve took at our march 15 meeting and the subsequent announcement and sequential launch of 11 new facilities to support the flow of credit to households and companies. while this easing of financial conditions is, of course, welcome to the extent that it supports the flow of credit to households and firms during this challenging period, it may not prove to be durable, depending on the course that the coronavirus contagion takes and the duration of the recession that it causes. at minimum, the easing of financial conditions is buying some time until the economy begins to recover. as i speak to you today, there is extraordinary uncertainty about both the depth and the duration of the economic downturn. because the course of the economy will depend on the course of the virus and the public health policies put in place to mitigate and contain it, there is an unusually 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches wide range of scenarios for the evolution of the economy that could plausibly play out over the next several years. in my baseline view, while i do believe it will likely take some time for economic activity and the labor market to fully recover from the pandemic shock, i do project right now that the economy will resume growth starting in the third quarter. in terms of inflation, my projection is for the covid - 19 contagion shock to be disinflationary, not inflationary, and the data we are seeing so far are consistent with this projection. for example, core cpi ( consumer price inflation ) prices fell 0. 4