. given this scenario, our monetary policy stance remains accommodative. i am glad to say that the financial system continues to be sound. developments in this all important sector have been clearly evident in the growth in total assets of our financial institutions. the key prudential indicators of our banking system remain favorable. the satisfactory performance of the banking system has been characterised by : • strong levels of capital ; bis central bankers ’ speeches • adequate liquidity ; indeed liquidity levels have been at all time highs in recent years ; • higher profitability ; and • revived lending trends which in the recent past were assessed to be on slow growth. there is also in my view a rapid development of innovation in the domestic financial sector. we are seeing a faster transfer of technology from abroad to fiji in the areas of microfinance, mobile banking, microinsurance, and bancassurance. lici fiji provides a classic example on bancassurance through its joint initiative taken with anz to roll out its insurance services using the bank ’ s network. performance of the insurance industry we all understand the critical role played by the insurance sector in ensuring our risks are covered. to any economy, insurance provides the safety net against possible risks that could cost the country millions of dollars. insurance, therefore, assists in the building block of a country by providing financial security in the event of a financial loss. on a more personal basis, it provides comfort and relief to businesses, individuals and families from hardship. our local insurance companies have generally performed well in terms of asset growth, profitability, adequacy of capital and solvency. let me mention a few statistics from our latest quarterly assessment : • total assets of the life insurance industry recorded a growth of around 8 percent over the year, to reach $ 780 million ; • net profit grew over the second quarter of this year to reach $ 25 million ; • net premium income grew by 25 percent over the year to june 2012 ; and • there has been a remarkable increase in the aggregate solvency surplus of assets over the required solvency margin for the insurance industry with the two life companies making up 50 percent of the overall solvency surplus. lici fiji lici fiji is one of the two companies licensed to conduct life insurance business in fiji. we have witnessed the continued expansion of lici ’ s operations in fiji, over the years, especially in the last five years with increased capital and solvency surplus, expanded market share in terms of premiums

william c dudley : economic overview – queens and the region remarks by mr william c dudley, president and chief executive officer of the federal reserve bank of new york, to the queens chamber of commerce and queens economic development corporation, flushing, new york city, 11 march 2011. * * * good morning. i am pleased to come to flushing ’ s main street to speak to the leaders of your vibrant business community. i thank the queens chamber of commerce and the queens economic development corporation for their help in organizing today ’ s breakfast and for reaching out to the people in this room and those we will meet later today – the business, community and academic leadership of queens. you may have noticed videos playing as you walked into the room. these videos are the winners of a federal reserve bank of new york contest to promote financial literacy among young adults. this year, students from laguardia community college took both first and second - place in the competition. the top winning video ran as a public service announcement at several movie theaters in new york city. all three videos are available on the new york fed ’ s website and on youtube. 1 this is an impressive achievement and i applaud the students and laguardia community college. although some people may refer to queens as an “ outer borough, ” i am quite aware that the center of population of new york city is in maspeth, queens. of course, queens is special not just for its central location, but also for its extraordinary diversity. queens continues to serve as a land of opportunity for immigrants from all over the world. roughly 46 percent of queens ’ population is foreign born – more than four times the national average and higher than any other county in the country with the exception of miami - dade. sizable communities of immigrants from countries ranging from columbia to korea, ecuador to egypt, greece to guyana, and italy to india have made queens their home. this morning i will talk to you about national and regional economic conditions. as always, what i have to say reflects my own views and not necessarily those of the federal open market committee ( fomc ) or the federal reserve system. introduction to the new york fed by way of introduction, let me start with a synopsis of what the new york fed is, what we do and what makes my job so interesting. the new york fed is part of the federal reserve system, america ’ s central bank, and was created by congress in 1913. with this act, congress delegated to the