presented by the institutions represented, there are also lots of giveaways for the children and the entire family. i urge you to make this a day where you take away something new in terms of your understanding of finance. please visit all the stalls where our stakeholders and colleagues are waiting eagerly to serve and assist you. and most importantly, please enjoy the day! with these few words i would like to kindly introduce mrs. lorine tevi, a member of the national financial inclusion taskforce, to enlighten you further in the vosa vakaviti. but before i do so, i have much pleasure in declaring the korovou microfinance expo open. vinaka vaka levu. end bis central bankers ’ speeches

and climate change which, apart from damaging infrastructure and basic utilities and eroding years of development in a few hours, can significantly affect domestic production, exports and our services and tourism sector. nevertheless, a notable upside risk to our growth outlook is the still relatively low international fuel prices which have resulted in windfall gains for fiji through lower import costs and lower total gross trade as share of gdp = 80 % ( average for 2012 – 14 ) bis central bankers ’ speeches inflation. this is particularly pertinent when you consider mineral fuels make up almost 30 percent of our total imports bill. recent developments in the fiji economy ladies and gentlemen, despite the sizeable devastation from the category 5 tropical cyclone ( tc ) winston packing winds in excess of 300 kmph in february and the floods associated with tc zena in april, i am pleased to say that the fiji economy is still poised to grow this year, by 2. 4 percent, our seventh straight year of growth ( something which we have not enjoyed since the early 1970 ’ s ). this growth reflects robust activity in our tourism - related industries, including the transport, wholesale, retail, accommodation & food services industries, which were relatively unscathed by tc winston. moreover, this growth also assumes a strong expansion in the construction sector due to post cyclone reconstruction activity, which will also boost retail activity. however, on the downside, a significant decline is expected in agricultural output this year, particularly for sugar, which had earlier also been impacted by el - nino drought conditions. furthermore, the extreme devastation to many household dwellings and livelihoods especially in the maritime areas, damage to schools and health facilities, water supply and power supply disruptions which to date have not been fully restored, have exacerbated the situation. nevertheless, ladies and gentlemen, the quick response and immediate and tremendous assistance by our development partners – including australia and new zealand, the business community and family members and friends of fiji both locally and abroad, are making a tremendous difference in helping our people get back on their feet through inflows of grantsin - aid and kind. government efforts were nothing short of swift in facilitating access to the worst affected areas and also in implementing measures to assist financially stricken businesses and households. some of these initiatives include the “ help for homes ” and “ adopt a school ” campaigns. we know that the many military and civilian personnel from your countries who came in immediately after tc winston played a huge role in turning the lives of many of our people around