##sing sustainable transaction volumes by moving social welfare payments, wages, lease payments and other g2p ( government to people ) payments onto electronic channels and ensuring that these channels are linked to easily accessible, basic transaction accounts. i am pleased to note the efforts by various departments in moving away from cash pay - outs to direct bank deposits. by doing this it has enabled many of the recipients to actually own a bank account for the very first time! keeping the momentum coming back to our second national financial inclusion strategy ( 2016 – 2020 ) which is one of the key topics of today ’ s workshop. this is a five year plan with measureable targets to guide the collaboration amongst multiple stakeholders and is part of the national agenda to contribute to a deep, competitive and stable financial system : an inclusive financial system that provides all fijians irrespective of social and economic background, an equal opportunity to improve their livelihoods. the key, ladies and gentlemen, is partnership and coordination. this is the reason for the workshop today, to get your understanding and buy in and hopefully your partnership. closing in closing, i thank you once again for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend this workshop. i urge you to openly discuss ways in which government may better assist us in helping drive towards our financial inclusion goals. in the end it is all about helping our people and give them that hand up to a better life. i wish you all fruitful and productive day of sharing. vinaka. bis central bankers ’ speeches

fiji, and no longer the “ new kid on the block ”. that title belongs to another bank now. you have adjusted well and in line with the economic conditions faced here. you continue to make significant contributions to fiji ’ s financial landscape in partnership with a wide group of stakeholders. i read recently that bsp won the connected world forum award for the best bank - led mobile money programme at the mobile money global summit and expo in dubai. the connected world awards celebrate the very best in mobile money with specific emphasis on innovation & service. congratulations are definitely in order. bis central bankers ’ speeches innovation is definitely a hallmark of bank south pacific ’ s services being provided across fiji and we are fully appreciative of your new technology rollouts. you were the first bank in fiji to introduce sms banking and you rightly boast the largest network of atms and wireless eftpos machines across the country. i note that this refurbished branch has revamped its customer service areas. understandably there has been a migration to the second floor, but also there is a new foreign exchange bureau accessible to the street. this is no doubt a natural response to the tourist traffic through nadi on a daily basis. you have all now had an opportunity to look at our new flora and fauna series of notes and coins, which have been in circulation since the 2nd january. we hope that the fiji public will be proud of their new currency and that it will continue to be a source of pride for all fijians for a long time. we at the reserve bank trust that the images on our currency will quickly become household names and provide instant recognition of our heritage and of the beauty that surrounds us here in fiji. the reserve bank will continue to roll out its awareness campaigns over the next several months, including to schools. logistically, in terms of issuance of our new currency, all the coins and the $ 10, $ 20, $ 50 and $ 100 notes commenced issuing on the 2nd january. however there will be a co - circulation period with most of the old design currency notes up to december of this year as we run down stocks. this co - circulation will not apply to the old $ 2 and $ 5 notes. the old design coins will remain in circulation, so for those who are already missing the queen you may take some comfort in this. the new $ 5 polymer or “ plastic ” note will be issued once we have withdrawn the existing $ 2 notes from circulation. this is