risks. on the other hand, credit demand of private firms continues to lack momentum as the level of corporate expenditures such as business fixed investment remains below firms ’ cash flow. moreover, firms continue to reduce their debts as part of their balance - sheet restructuring measures. as a result, credit demand in the private sector has continued to be basically stagnant. in view of this, the underlying tone of private banks ’ lending remains sluggish. meanwhile, the growth rate of amount outstanding of corporate bonds issued is recently rising slightly. the amount outstanding of cp issued is well above that of the previous year and marking the highest level to date, reflecting the favorable environment for issuing cp. the growth rate of money stock ( m2 + cds ) in june was higher than that of the previous month due mainly to the inflow from postal savings. funding costs for firms are on a declining trend reflecting developments in market interest rates. in this financial environment, the lending attitudes of financial institutions and corporate financing conditions remain easy as a whole. for the time being, attention should be paid to the effects of the monetary easing measures taken by the bank, while careful monitoring is required for the effects of stock price developments and corporate profit conditions on the behavior of financial institutions and the fund - raising conditions of firms.

barry whiteside : bank south pacific group expansion in fiji opening address by mr barry whiteside, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, on the occasion of the rebranding of dominion house to bsp life centre, the opening of the bsp life ’ s customer service centre, and the opening of the bsp ’ s thomson street branch, suva, 4 october 2012. * * * his excellency, the president, rau epeli nailatikau the first lady, adi koila nailatikau mr kevin mccarthy, bsp fiji country manager mr malakai naiyaga, managing director, bsp life limited board members of bsp life limited and bank south pacific management and staff distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen introductory comments bula vinaka and a very good evening to you all. i wish to thank kevin and malakai for their kind invitation to yet another significant event in the relatively short history of bsp ’ s operations in fiji. it is indeed a privilege to be here to support your development initiatives and i welcome your ongoing rebranding & refurbishment programme in fiji. it definitely is another sign of the bsp group wishing to further stamp its mark as a major player in the market and is a real vote of confidence for fiji ’ s economy and our domestic financial system. the bsp fiji group we are actually here today to celebrate three different milestones : ( i ) the re - branding of this dominion house complex to bsp life centre ; ( ii ) the opening of bsp life ’ s customer service centre ; and ( iii ) the renaming of the refurbished bank operations to bsp thomson street branch. the bsp fiji arm of the group has an impressive pedigree. it is a union of two prominent fijian financial institutions, colonial fiji life limited and colonial national bank, which were acquired by bsp in december 2009. colonial fiji life limited, which used to be known as colonial mutual life assurance society ( or more simply as just cmla to us older folk ), was founded in melbourne in 1873, and almost simultaneously opened offices in several other centers in australia. a branch office was opened in fiji in 1876 and i understand that this was the first overseas branch of colonial mutual, before the company opened up in new zealand and south africa in 1883, and expanded into great britain and ireland in 1886. the company officially demutualised in 1996 after acquiring blue shield ( pacific ) limited in 1991. the colonial business was domesticated in