money lenders. i am happy to report that seven out of the nine proposals made have been progressed with the other two still under discussions. the government and world bank are already in negotiations for a financing arrangement that may incorporate a form of guarantee scheme and financial education elements while dbz has been recapitalized and has disbursed some funding through other financial institutions. a legal framework for consumer protection as well as possible incentives have already been taken account of through adequate provisions in the revised banking and financial services act which is under government consideration for possible legislation in 2014. guest of honour we all agree that one of the major barriers to growth of the sme sector in zambia is the shortage of financing despite its high potential to catalyze growth and employment creation. it therefore makes business sense that the financial sector should start to look at the financing problems for smes in a holistic manner which takes into consideration other developmental constraints which may impede sustainable growth and render the financing ineffective. in line with government ’ s desire to enhance local content through smes and use of locallymanufactured inputs in the zambian mining industry, a study in the mining sector is being under taken by the zambia local content initiative ( zmlci ) facilitated by the world bank and co - financed by dfid. the goal is to build sustainable collaboration between smes and the mining industry. it is our hope that the above initiative will be extended to non - mining related smes such as those in agribusiness, tourism and retail. honourable minister you may wish to note the following topics that will be discussed during this forum : i. sme financing and business linkages, ifc experiences in africa ; ii. sme financing and experiences and lessons learned – afdb ; iii. promoting business linkages in zambia – dfid zambia ; and iv. sme financing and business linkages in zambia – focus financial services. further, the programme will include panel discussions on policy recommendations and an interactive session. the discussion panel will, among others, cover policy issues and outline some possible recommendations for action. chairperson as i conclude, allow me to thank the presenters and panelists for accepting to facilitate our deliberations at this forum. i urge all delegates to engage fully in these discussions so that we can collectively develop pragmatic solutions to the financing challenges facing zambian businesses. thank you for listening. bis central bankers ’ speeches

amando m tetangco, jr : the strength of retail – in a wider asean economy speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the chamber of thrift banks ( ctb ) annual convention, makati city, 19 march 2014. * * * every year, your industry comes together to exchange views on the prospects for the year ahead. with your theme this year “ thrift banks : preparing for 2015 asean integration ”, the thrift banking industry is recognizing a development that has quietly evolved through the years and will soon crystalize. asean integration – broadly through the asean financial integration framework or afif and more specifically through the asean banking integration framework or abif – will come to fruition in line with the asean 2020 vision that was enunciated way back in 2007. it is, in this sense, imminent and the chamber is being responsive by preparing for this eventuality. in fact, for this convention, the organizers have lined up experts to tackle different facets of integration. my role this morning is to describe the broad economic landscape, including the challenges and opportunities, that the thrift banking industry currently faces against the backdrop of asean integration. the chamber is being strategic in this way, for clearly, understanding one ’ s starting point and initial conditions is just as important as defining one ’ s final destination. the economy at large let me begin therefore with the economy at large. it is tempting to simply cite the array of indicators that show that the macro - economy is strong. in 2013, we again saw the convergence of high growth and stable prices as the country posted a real gross domestic product growth rate of 7. 2 percent amid an inflation of three percent. this is on top of the real gdp growth of 6. 8 percent and a 3. 2 percent inflation rate in 2012. we need to appreciate these numbers not just because they are better than the performance numbers that came out of 2011 ( which were 3. 6 % real gdp growth and 4. 6 % inflation rate ). instead, these are excellent numbers because of the calamities that befell us during the period. 1 on the external front, the balance of payments position was at usd5. 1 billion for 2013. and the gross international reserves at almost 12 months ’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services continues to provide ample cushion against external vulnerabilities