savenaca narube : the fiji economy – facing the global crisis summary of an address by mr savenaca narube, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, to the fiji australia business council, suva, 2 december 2008. * * * global crisis • looking at a snapshot of domestic economic conditions, the economy declined heavily in 2007 but is recovering this year, albeit at a low growth rate. the trade deficit is widening and exerting pressure on foreign reserves. moreover, inflation rose to a 20 - year high but is expected to moderate in 2009. investment has fallen. unemployment is rising and poverty is worsening. now fiji faces the global financial crisis. • the imf has revised world growth successively, down to 3. 7 percent this year and is expecting a global recession, with growth forecast at 2. 2 percent in 2009. of our trading partners, new zealand, japan and the euro - zone are in recession, while growth in the us and australia has slowed considerably. • the crisis has resulted in sharp swings in the fiji dollar vis - a - vis the currencies of our trading partners. however, the nominal effective exchange rate remains stable. • the financial crisis will affect us through the recession in our major markets and also in the changes to the exchange rate. exposure to trade in goods and services • fiji ’ s commodity exports will be affected insofar as external demand falls. hence, demand - driven exports, such as tourism, water and garments are likely to slow down. supply - driven exports, while unaffected from the global crisis, are bound by on - going structural constraints. overall, there is likely to be a slowdown in the growth of total exports. • tourism is anticipated to be under threat from the fallout of the global financial crisis. visitor arrivals from the us, europe and japan are already falling, while new zealand tourist arrivals are flat. the australian market remains resilient and is a key source of growth. exchange rate movements, particularly with the australian and new zealand currencies, will further dampen demand. • personal remittances are likely to decline further. • overall, imports are expected to rise. the weakening of the fiji dollar, coupled with higher duty, is likely to raise the price of cement and cars out of japan, dampening demand. on the other hand, the strengthening of the fiji dollar against the aussie and kiwi dollars will lower food prices received from australia and new zealand.

muhammad bin ibrahim : challenges in compiling and communicating statistics in malaysia opening remarks by mr muhammad bin ibrahim, deputy governor of the central bank of malaysia, at the national statistics conference ( mystats 2012 ), kuala lumpur, 9 november 2012. * * * saya berbesar hati untuk mengalu - alukan kepada semua yang hadir pada persidangan yang julung - julung kali diadakan ini, mystats 2012, yang memperlihatkan sekali lagi kejayaan dalam usaha kerjasama di antara jabatan perangkaan malaysia dengan bank negara malaysia. saya juga amat gembira dan berbangga dengan sokongan yang ditunjukkan oleh para peserta yang mengambil bahagian hari ini, yang terdiri daripada sektor swasta dan sektor awam, pengguna dan perangkawan statistik, di samping rakan - rakan saya daripada irving fisher committee on central bank statistics ( ifc ). dengan kehadiran kumpulan yang mempunyai pelbagai kepentingan ini, saya yakin forum ini akan menjadi platform yang amat sesuai untuk kita berkongsi pandangan, bertukar - tukar pengetahuan dan pengalaman tentang statistik, dan akhirnya memperoleh manfaat besar daripada persidangan ini. i am pleased to welcome all of you to this inaugural conference, mystats 2012, a collaborative effort between department of statistics malaysia and bank negara malaysia. i am also very encouraged by the strong support from all of you present here today, representing both the private and public sectors, users and compilers of statistics, and executives members from the irving fisher committee on central bank statistics ( ifc ). with such a diversified interest group, i believe this forum will be an important platform for us to share views, exchange statistical knowledge and experiences. the objective of mystats is to provide a platform for our statisticians, analysts, economists, policy makers, academicians and media to share, discuss and highlight insights and issues in statistical analysis and policy formulation as well