basic entrepreneurial skills when they leave school. consumer protection we always refer to the customer / consumer as the king. if our customers are kings then we should look after and treat them as kings. therefore having simple and transparent consumer protection mechanisms in place is critical. for example, in the financial system, consumers need to be aware of the fees and charges they have to pay. what do they do and where do they go if they have complaints about financial services and products? to this end, the central bank will soon introduce a voluntary banking and financial institutions code for financial institutions in the country. i hope our banks and other financial institutions will sign up to this code because it is very important that our customers / consumers are protected and well informed. access to financial services to achieve this objective, there is increasing focus on the use of technology as a means of overcoming the physical barriers to extending financial services in rural areas. the use of the mobile phone as channel to extend coverage of financial services to a greater portion of our rural people is a good example. there is also special emphasis on ensuring greater access to financial services by our women. bis central bankers ’ speeches the three goals i have just highlighted form the key activities of the national financial inclusion taskforce ( nfit ) established early this year. and i am encouraged that anz and other banks in the country are proactive members on the taskforce. and on their own banks have also been very proactive in conducting financial inclusion activities for their clients and the wider public. i am confident that with on - going support from all stakeholders, solomon islands would successfully achieve the moneypacific goals ahead of the other countries in the region. official opening ladies and gentlemen, without taking anymore of your time, i would like to thank barry for inviting me to this important occasion. i wish barry and his team on - going success in their activities in solomon islands. with these few words, ladies and gentlemen, i now have the pleasure in declaring anz ’ s new honiara central branch here at the hyundai mall officially open. thank you very much. bis central bankers ’ speeches

this additional facility to conduct their banking business. this branch certainly has a modern look and feel about it. i feel as if i am in an bis central bankers ’ speeches anz branch in sydney or brisbane. anz has certainly raised its standard in terms of its facilities. i know it is not cheap but this is what i mean when i say that solomon islands deserve the best or world class facilities and products and not the “ fitim solomon ” facilities or products. update on si economy let me provide a brief update on our recent economic performance. at the beginning of this year we projected the solomon islands economy to grow by around 6 percent, slightly lower than last year. based on available data for the last seven months, it appears that growth for 2011 would be the same or even higher than last year. economic performance in the first half of 2011 had been robust with key macroeconomic indicators showing positive outcomes. in the real sector the production of all commodities were strong in the first half of 2011 with copra doubling, palm oil up 14 %, cocoa up 26 %, fish up 17 % and logs up by 50 %. of great interest is log production, with total output up to july reaching 1, 143, 222 cubic meters. at this rate, total log production for 2011 would reach 1. 9 – 2. 0 million cubic meters. gold production has also come on stream and is contributing to the country ’ s exports and growth. in the external sector, strong commodity prices and production have led to : improvements in the trade account with the june quarter posting a trade surplus, the first since 2006. marked improvement in export receipts, lower import payments, donor and investment inflows contributed to the positive outcome in the external sector. as a result, foreign reserves rose by 24 % to sbd $ 2. 6 billion by last week, or equivalent to over 10 months of import cover. in the monetary sector, money supply ( m3 ) grew by a moderate 3. 0 % as opposed to 0. 8 % growth in the same period last year. at the same time credit growth has been subdued resulting in : a 22 % increase in liquidity since december 2010 despite the central bank absorbing more than $ 200 million of this liquidity from the banking system. in terms of government finances, the country ’ s fiscal position has improved markedly. with sound fiscal management, revenue collection has increased and expenditure contained within budget allocations. the government had been able to build up its cash reserves. on