pin has proved to be instrumental in reducing card fraud in the uk high street. the increase in card fraud losses in 2008 in uk was due, according to her, to uk card details being stolen and cloned for use in countries not yet upgraded to chip and pin. this brief overview gives you an indication of where we actually stand. i now return to the theme i want to address you today, the responsibilities of the central bank, financial institutions and consumers in fraud prevention. the bank of mauritius has a critical role to play in creating an environment where adequate standards are maintained. it establishes mr charles niehaus is the general manager, sub - saharan africa, visa international cemea region. expectations, norms and responsibilities through regulation. financial institutions on their part need to have adequate it systems and controls to address the risks in their businesses. they also need to provide access to relevant information to consumers of their financial products. informed consumers have the responsibility to protect themselves from the risks that they can best manage. bank of mauritius the bank of mauritius has the responsibility of maintaining the stability of the payments and financial system. this responsibility hinges on the orderly development and efficient functioning of the system. the bank has taken a number of initiatives to further modernize the payments system among which are the cheque truncation project, the implementation of the international bank identification number ( iban ) and the upgrading of the macss. the main objective of cheque truncation is to enable cheques to be exchanged and cleared on the basis of electronic presentment of cheque images and cheque micr codeline data. it provides a number of benefits : faster clearing cycles, faster cheque tracing and cost reduction, the most important one being operational risk reduction through enhanced security and automatic detection of forged instruments. our banks are increasingly engaging in cross border transactions and the bank of mauritius implemented the iban, which provides a secured and transparent means of international fund transfer via straight through processing ( stp ). with a view to furthering facilitation of cross border transactions in the region, the bank will be a participant and the settlement bank in the regional payment and settlement system ( repss ) of the comesa clearing house. the macss represents the main architecture for local electronic payments involving the bank of mauritius, banks, government and large taxpayers. this core application, which is based on international best practice, was recently replaced. it provides for advanced queue management for liquidity purposes, enhanced security, increased availability and

ajith nivard cabraal : practical, not conventional, wisdom has driven sri lanka ’ s rebuilding and reconciliation article by mr ajith nivard cabraal, governor of the central bank of sri lanka, 3 april 2014. * * * about five years ago, sri lanka faced three daunting economic challenges. to deal with those challenges, the sri lankan authorities implemented certain pragmatic strategies that challenged conventional wisdom. at the time of defeating terrorism in may 2009, a massive investment was required to restore normalcy in the terror - torn northern province. conventional wisdom suggested that the rebuilding, rehabilitation and restoration should be carried out at a moderate pace, without burdening the economy unduly, and without placing government expenditure under stress. however, even at the risk of experiencing a spike in the fiscal deficit in the years 2009 and 2010, sri lanka executed a rapid action plan to de - mine land, re - settle idps, and upgrade infrastructure in the war - affected areas. that investment brought quick relief to the hundreds of thousands of people who had suffered during the 30 year war. the cost? a staggering us $ 3. 2 billion over 4 years, or nearly 6 % of gdp! the direct benefit? rapid clearance of over a million landmines from the northern province : speedy resettlement of nearly 300, 000 idps ; early restoration of the infrastructure : considerable progress in agriculture, fisheries and sme activity : significant increase in industrial production and domestic tourism : major transformation in the financial sector ; and creation of new entrepreneurs and job opportunities ; the overall outcome? a peaceful country without a single terrorist incident ; significant country - wide economic growth ; and sharp reduction in poverty levels. these incredible outcomes vividly reflected the extraordinary benefits that had been reaped via practical wisdom! around 2008, the country was trapped in a “ vicious cycle ” that had hampered growth since independence : high fiscal deficits leading to high inflation ; high inflation leading to high interest rates ; high interest rates leading to low investor confidence ; low investor confidence leading to sluggish investment ; sluggish investment leading to lower growth than potential ; lower growth and high fiscal deficits leading to unfavorable debt dynamics which in turn, impacted fiscal deficits adversely. this vicious cycle was deep rooted, and many sri lanka ’ s economists who subscribed to conventional wisdom used to lament that this cycle was the country ’ s “ karma ” ( fate ), and that it would be impossible to break