transactions executed through atms went up to 1, 335. 5 million in 2013 from 412. 1 million in 2004. during the same period, the total number of transactions carried out through pos terminals increased to 294. 1 million with a total value of sar 144. 3 billion from 52. 1 million with a total value of sar 23. 9 billion. the number of bills paid through sadad system increased to 160. 8 million with a value of sar 176. 6 billion in 2013 from 43. 5 million with a value of sar 22. 0 billion in 2007. within the framework of its supervisory and oversight functions over the insurance sector, sama considered many files of insurance companies. by the end of 2013, sama licensed 35 insurance and reinsurance companies. besides, sama approved 194 offices to provide insurance related services. sama issued a number of regulations and rules to regulate the activities of the financing sector in the kingdom, improve its services, promote governance and transparency, protect the rights of its beneficiaries and create a competitive environment to contribute to provision of better financing services to meet the needs of the market and beneficiaries at competitive prices. up to the end of july 2014, sama licensed 12 banks and 4 companies to conduct the activity of real estate finance and financial leasing, and 4 companies to carry out other bis central bankers ’ speeches financing activities. sama also granted initial approvals on 11 applications for licensing pending the completion of the legal requirements of the ministry of commerce and industry. at the international level, the kingdom holds a prominent position. it is an active member of the g20 since its establishment and of several international financial organizations. sama represents the kingdom in a number of international forums and institutions, such as the bank for international settlements, the financial stability board, basel committee, the international association of insurance supervisors, the islamic financial services board and the gulf monetary council. currently, sama is participating in more than 25 committees, working groups and sub - committees in international commissions and organizations. sama effectively contributes to the efforts exerted in international regulatory reforms, enabling sama to cope with the latest developments and international standards in supervision and control. on this occasion, i pray to almighty allah to preserve the security and stability of our country and may the kingdom ’ s continue its development march under the wise leadership of the custodian of the two holy mosques, crown prince and deputy crown prince. bis central bankers ’ speeches

stephen s poloz : canada's economy and household debt - how big is the problem? remarks by mr stephen s poloz, governor of the bank of canada, at the yellowknife chamber of commerce, yellowknife, northwest territories, 1 may 2018. * * * i would like to thank jing yang for her help with this speech. introduction shakespeare wrote, “ neither a borrower nor a lender be. ” well, that may have been reasonable advice back in hamlet ’ s day, but it is hard to imagine a modern economy like ours functioning under that dictum. for most canadians debt is a fact of life, at least at some point. borrowing can help someone get a higher education, or buy a new car, or purchase a home. simply put, debt is a tool that allows people to smooth out their spending throughout their life. the amount of debt held by canadian households has been rising for about 30 years, not just in absolute terms but also relative to the size of the economy. at the end of last year, canadian households owed just over $ 2 trillion. mortgages make up almost three - quarters of this debt. while debt is indispensable for our modern way of life, it has been a growing preoccupation for the bank of canada for several years now. that is because high debt levels can make us vulnerable to negative events — individuals as well the entire economy. there are two ways to look at this. traditionally, our focus has been on the vulnerability of canada ’ s financial system arising from elevated indebtedness. this means analyzing how our banks would manage a serious economic recession with high unemployment and increasing debt defaults. but the bank is also focused on the vulnerability of our economy to rising interest rates, given high household debt. there is little doubt that the economy is more sensitive to higher interest rates today than it was in the past, and that global and domestic interest rates are on the rise. so, today i want to talk about household debt in canada — the dynamics that led to its buildup, how big a problem it is for canadians now, and how we can manage the risks in the years ahead. how did we get here? two trillion dollars of debt is a big number. let us try to put some context around it. a common way to measure household debt is to compare it with the amount of disposable income people have. in canada ’ s case, household debt is