##es ladies and gentlemen, commercial bank lending to private sector businesses currently stands at just over $ 2. 0 billion. our records show that of this total, the 15 largest business loans from each of fiji ’ s four commercial banks make up close to 60 percent, while lending to micro businesses and smes account for just 8 percent. there is definitely room for this to grow. i am particularly pleased to highlight that commercial banks have already given around $ 10 million in loans under the sme credit guarantee scheme since the facility was introduced in january this year. with an interest rate pegged at no greater than 10 percent per annum this should greatly assist businesses. we hope that within 5 years, the share of sme loans would double to around 16 percent of total lending. anz sme scheme ladies and gentlemen, i understand that anz ’ s commitment and work in the sme sector is something that has been honed over the last 5 years, with particular focus on streamlining processes and improving access to affordable finance. the creation of a 20 - staff sme team to serve all parts of fiji will positively impact sme growth in both credit and numbers. in addition, anz ’ s efforts in working together with local regulators and sme operators is welcome news for sector engagement towards sme development. the reserve bank is always grateful to financial institutions that assume additional responsibility and take the initiative in accommodating government and rbf supported policies, as this portrays an alignment of our goals in taking the economy forward. the reserve bank is confident that the combined efforts of anz and other financial institutions in taking the new scheme on board, will act as a platform for sme growth and is a step towards realising his sector ’ s true potential. in closing, i wish your team every success in the launch of this new product and thank anz bank for the continued confidence and commitment towards the development of both the sme sector and the fiji economy. vinaka vakalevu. bis central bankers ’ speeches

reserve bank of fiji welcome address by governor of the reserve bank of fiji, barry whiteside, at the official launch and unveiling of fiji rugby 7s commemorative banknote and coin grand pacific hotel, suva, 20th april, 2017 salutations hon. prime minister hon. ministers, hon. speaker and members of the parliament the tui suva chief justice board directors of the reserve bank of fiji ben ryan, osea kolinisau and members of our olympics gold medal winning team distinguished guests reserve bank of fiji colleagues ladies and gentlemen introduction and welcome bula vinaka and a very good evening to you all on this very special occasion! an occasion when we once again come together to relive a truly great moment in our small nation ’ s history and thank those special people who brought us so much joy through their tremendous feat in rio back in august last year. i must also say a special warm welcome “ home ” to ben! we were so pleased when you accepted our invitation. it would be remiss of me not to recognise gareth baber and our current 7 ’ s gladiators, who reminded us just how good we are by demolishing south africa in hong kong just 12 days ago! despite the slight hiccup against a very focused usa team last weekend in singapore, you continue to spread the joy across our nation and we thank you. honoring the gold medal win ladies and gentlemen, even before the olympic games we at the reserve bank were excited about our medal chances. some of us came up short of saying it would be gold, but we were quietly confident it would be so. reserve bank of fiji so we were already thinking how we could honor such a feat by our team. as a central bank the only way we could think of, apart from taking money from our vault and handing it to the players ( which would land us all in gaol! ), was to honor them on our currency. you will recall we did this in celebrating iliesa delana ’ s great win in the f42 high jump event and our first para - olympic gold medal in london back in 2012. so when the rio rugby 7s title became ours, the deal was sealed and we put in train the processes which led us to today ’ s event! many may ask why so late? this is nearly nine months after rio. i would like to say even though this may be the case, the euphoria still has not died down, at least