##tify the political risks of guarantees of foreign exchange holdings into a measure of foreign reserve adequacy. however, we do need to develop new measures of foreign exchange adequacy, with some urgency, before we can draw conclusions as to how much is enough. until then – and this seems some way in the future – it is my prediction that, notwithstanding recent policies in chile and mexico – which are exceptions to the rule for developing countries and everyone is watching how their policies turn out – that without stronger guarantees and reliable formulae, central banks in developing countries will continue to accumulate foreign exchange reserves. in hard currency areas, however, like the us $, £ sterling and the euro, reserves are likely to stabilize. we have already seen what has happened since the introduction of the euro. in the longer run – perhaps in another 25 years to 50 years – the world may move to only a few major currency areas, as some pundits have predicted. in this scenario, foreign exchange reserve holdings could decline for if there are only a few currencies in the world, the need to hold foreign exchange is likely to be reduced. perhaps then, central banks will say, enough is enough.

the treasury department. we took the opportunity to meet with the newly established toronto chapter of biba, and our high commission in ottawa arranged a reception for potential investors in barbados. as we all know, the largest of our financial institutions operate at a regional level, and therefore as supervisors we need to be concerned about risks that arise from regional linkages. a project for the publication of a regional financial stability report got underway last month. the target for publication of the first regional financial stability report is december 2012. in the meanwhile preparation work on barbados ’ own financial stability report is advanced, and publication is slated for end - december this year. together with our regional partners, barbados has sought to have a voice in the ongoing efforts for reform of the international financial system. we have been invited to join the regional consultative group for the americas, set up by the financial stability board, the body established by the group of 20 countries to oversee the process of international financial reform. shane lowe and i are preparing a paper on caribbean perspectives on international financial reform for presentation at the inaugural meeting of the regional bis central bankers ’ speeches consultative group, on december 2 in mexico city. this year at the time of the annual meetings of the world bank and imf, the caribbean countries were invited to a breakfast meeting with the managing director of the imf to offer our perspective on the fund ’ s work and to share our concerns. this is the second year that we had such a meeting. on the clico matter, we have had very encouraging cooperation with oecs countries through the advisory group which has been established by the judicial managers, and which i co - chair with my friend and colleague timothy antoine, the permanent secretary of finance of grenada. the judicial managers have done an outstanding job in providing a comprehensive menu of options for the resolution of the clico insolvency, from which the option which is in the best interests of policy holders may be chosen. the topics we will cover today are : the impact of the global crisis the role of the fsc financial institutions and the financing of government things that affect credit quality changes in the operation of the fx market ; and considerations for interest rate policy today ’ s sessions are not for decision making ; their value is in the discussion of the issues. if we are to make good policy, we must be fully informed and the issues must be fully ventilated. today we will share information, and there is an opportunity for everyone to contribute their views on the issues presented