agreed to undertake a financial sector assessment program ( fsap ) in 2006. i believe that fiji is the smallest island member country of the imf that has volunteered to undertake such a comprehensive review. concluding remarks ladies and gentlemen, let me summarise. i believe that the fiji economy has come a long way since 2000. the economy is recording its fourth consecutive year of growth, the rates of growth are higher, incomes are rising and investment is picking up after two decades of decline. in the immediate future, growth is expected to continue but at a slower pace. there are capacity constraints that we need to address. there are however many challenges for us in the medium term and i have talked about maintaining economic stability and as the key one. promoting exports is paramount to obtaining sustainability. ridding ourselves of structural impediments to higher growth is necessary and essential if we are to lift our growth rates higher. obviously, these are not easy tasks. it requires commitment and perseverance and will. but i firmly believe that, as a country, we can overcome these challenges. thank you.

for financial literacy in fiji, so we can accurately measure the impacts of our work in this field. while all the efforts i have mentioned above are all positive, as we all know the overarching goal of the national financial inclusion taskforce is to : “ to reach 150, 000 unbanked clients by 2014 through a nationally coordinated effort, supported by a variety of financial service providers, offering a broad range of relevant, accessible, affordable and cost effective financial services. ” there has been significant progress on this front as well. shortly after the rbf ’ s e - money launch, vodafone officially launched its m - paisa product, and since then, digicel has also made public that it will soon offer its mobile money product here in fiji. the ability to provide financial services over these mobile networks now allows us to access rural and low income people that were previously too remote, or too expensive to reach. m - paisa already has thousands of customers, and is growing exponentially every day. as this access continues to improve, we shift our focus to the types of financial products that can be offered on these platforms. the nfit goal was written with forethought to promote a “ broad range ” of services as international experience has clearly shown that microfinance products beyond savings and credit yield significant benefits to those struggling to overcome poverty. it is obvious to us all that while there are situations when most of us need credit, it is by no means the “ cure - all ” financial product that it is often touted as. some of these events are unpredictable, meaning that they are hard to save for, and when they occur, a loan may not be available or appropriate. these events, like floods, injuries at work, a death in the family, are the exact situations for which insurance was created. when these situations occur, low income people should have the appropriate financial mechanisms available to them to reduce their risk of catastrophic income and property loss. microinsurance does not currently exist in fiji on any large scale, but its power to increase people ’ s financial security and fortify their level of social protection warrants this informational event today. as many of you know this product is now the fastest growing microfinance product in the world, providing benefits to millions of mothers, farmers, and small business owners around the world. because of this phenomenon the rbf has reviewed the insurance act of 1998, to ensure that there are no restrictions hindering