9th SAARCFINANCE Co-ordinators’ Meeting – Proceedings
The 9th SAARCFINANCE Co-ordinators’ Meeting was held in Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Mumbai on February 12, 2008 under the Chairmanship of Dr. R. K. Pattnaik, Adviser, RBI, Department of Economic Analysis and Policy (DEAP) and also the central Co-ordinator, SAARCFINANCE. SAARCFINANCE Co-ordinators from six SAARC central banks excepting that from Pakistan, and observers from the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Finance, Government of India attended the meeting. The list of participants is given in Annex I.
In his opening remarks, Dr. R. K. Pattnaik, Adviser welcomed the delegates of SAARC member countries as well as the observers from the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Finance, Government of India. The Chairman informed the house that the next SAARCFINANCE Governors’ Meeting would be held in Washington in April 2008. The proceedings of the previous SAARCFINANCE Governors’ Meeting would again be circulated and action points thereon be complied with by February-end 2008. He also stated that an interface session with Chief General Manager (CGM), Press Relation Division (PRD), RBI has been arranged to discuss some technical issues relating to creation of SAARCFINANCE web site and also standardization of SAARCFINANCE web folders across the member countries. He then put up the agenda for discussion.
The proceedings of the 8th SAARCFINANCE Co-ordinators’ Meeting held in Mumbai during September 10-11, 2007 had been placed in the house for members’ confirmation, which were unanimously accepted.
The country-wise SAARCFINANCE activities report as documented by RBI in e-Newsletter (December 2007) was placed in the house. Members apprised the latest developments that had taken place in their respective countries. Co-ordinator from Bangladesh, in particular, stated that they were going to organize a training programme on the areas of micro-finance, banking supervision, etc., for the officials of Afghanistan soon under the staff exchange programme.
The review of the progress on SAARCFINANCE planned seminars, symposia and studies was undertaken. Sri Lankan delegate informed that the Governors’ symposium on ‘South Asia’s Recent Growth and Future Prospects’ would be hosted by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo in July 2008. Bangladesh Co-ordinator apprised that a seminar on ‘Corporate Governance in Banks and Financial Institutions in SAARC Countries’ would be held during 2008 but specific date has not yet been fixed. Co-ordinators from Afghanistan and Maldives informed that they were also planning to hold a seminar sometime during 2009 but date and topic are yet to be finalized. Nepal, however, highlighted the issue of lack of participation of member countries in the seminars conducted by them last year (2007). In this regard, members were of the view that sometimes unforeseen circumstances may prevent them from attending seminars organized by member countries. An international workshop on ‘Off-site Surveillance’ is proposed to be conducted by the RBI (Urban Bank Department) in the first week of March 2008 and the representatives of Central Banks of SAARC nations, among others, have been invited.
Accordingly, it has been decided that:
- Symposia/workshops planned to be undertaken during 2008 and 2009 should be forwarded to the Secretariat by end-February 2008. It was decided that this issue should be raised before the SAARCFINANCE Governors’ meeting.
As per the decision of the 16th SAARCFINANCE Governors’ Meeting (Washington, October 20, 2007), Co-ordinators may prepare on their own a list of research projects of regional importance and the same may be circulated on its completion through an electronic network among other member countries for their benefit. Co-ordinators from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bangladesh informed the members that they would inform the Secretariat in this regard by end-February 2008. Bhutan delegate observed that they were constrained to do any kind of study of regional importance due to lack of expertise and expressed the need for training assistance from the member countries. The Chairman made an observation that RBI’s all publications, including in-house research study by Development Research Group (DRG) collaborated with external experts, are available on its website and in case any research studies of regional importance is undertaken by RBI, other members would accordingly be informed.
On the status of ongoing studies, Maldives indicated that a study on outward remittances from Maldives to other countries (including SAARC countries) is underway and the study may be made available to other members on its completion. In this regard, he enquired whether India could provide any research support. The Chairman replied that a study on inward remittances to India was also undertaken and published recently in RBI Bulletin. Therefore, if any member country requires such assistance, India would be glad to provide them. Similar study has also been undertaken by the Bangladesh Bank and is likely to be completed by March 2008.
The Da Afghanistan Bank has undertaken a study on inward remittances. However, the Co-ordinator from Afghanistan expressed that they required technical expertise regarding survey methodology, quantitative technique, etc. for carrying out the research projects/study. He observed that an appropriate training in this regard could be imparted to Afghanistan under the staff exchange programme.
It has, therefore, been decided that:
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Research projects/studies planned to be undertaken during 2008 should be forwarded to the Secretariat by end-February 2008 and
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Member country may request India or such other country for technical assistance as part of SAARCFINANCE’s effort to share knowledge with one another.
(a) Enhancing Staff Exchange Programme
It has transpired that the training programme schedules for the year 2008 for the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and Reserve Bank of India are available on their respective central banks’ website. For Bangladesh Bank, this information would also be put up shortly on their website. Nepal delegate informed that training proprammes conducted by Nepal Rastra Bank are largely in local language and therefore, may not be of much relevance to other members. Nevertheless, it was felt that the list of training programmes to be conducted by Nepal Rastra Bank in 2008 may be sent to the Secretariat for circulation among members. Bhutan delegate informed that there is no formal training institute for Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan (RMA) and therefore, RMA will not be able to provide any training programme in 2008. Maldives’ Co-ordinator wanted to know the website addresses of all member countries. It was agreed that the Secretariat would circulate the website addresses of all member countries for accessing the training programmes available on the websites of other member countries. Maldives and Afghanistan expressed strong interest to avail of the opportunities in the training programmes of the member countries. Here, it was clarified that members may directly approach the concerned training department of the member central bank. However, information in this regard may also be given to the concerned co-ordinator for information.
It was further agreed that all member countries should forward their respective training programmes in 2008 to the Secretariat by end-February 2008. The Secretariat in turn will consolidate and circulate them to all members. This information would also be hosted in the SAARCFINANCE web folder of RBI for reference.
The actions that emerged after the discussions are as follows:
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All countries should forward their training programmes to the Secretariat by end-February 2008 for circulation so that member countries could take advantage of them. Those training programmes should also be hosted in the SAARCFINANCE Web folder.
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Training on issues outside the training programmes such as banking regulation, payment system, compilation of balance of payments statistics, etc., may be requested to the member country concerned.
(b) Setting up of SAARCFINANCE Training Centre
As per the decision in the 16th SAARCFINANCE Governors’ Meeting (Washington, October 20, 2007), the Co-ordinators may develop modus operandi regarding operationalization of training centre at ‘Centre for Banking Studies’ in the Central Bank of Sri Lanka as a regional training centre for SAARCFINANCE.
In this regard, members discussed at length various options of funding for meeting expenditure towards hosting training programmes for SAARC member participants. It was agreed that Sri Lanka would prepare a draft report in this regard and forward it to the Secretariat by end-February 2008 so that feedback/comments could be received from other members by March 15, 2008. The suggested modus operandi would then be placed for discussion in the next SAARCFINANCE Governors’ meeting (April 12, 2008).
It was decided that:
(c) Review of the status of creation of SAARCFINANCE web folder on central bank’s website
An interface of the SAARCFINANCE Co-ordinators with Chief General Manager (CGM), Press Relations Division (PRD), Reserve Bank of India was arranged to discuss some technical issues relating to creation of SAARCFINANCE web site and also standardization of SAARCFINANCE web folders across the member countries. CGM apprised the members that though SAARCFINANCE was set up way back in September 1998, there was no unique website for the forum as of now. Each member country, while in Chair, created and hosted a website. There was, therefore, no uniformity on either content or format of the site. The site was also not updated. It was against this background that creation of a single SARCFINANCE website was suggested. All member countries could provide a link to this website from their own website. Second, SAARCFINANCE e-Newsletter in its present form was more like a report of SAARCFINANCE activities and did not have the characteristics of an e-Newsletter. CGM suggested that it could be published in the format of a proper newsletter with more news about economic and central banking developments in SAARCFINANCE countries. If the suggestions were accepted, the modalities of creating, hosting and updating the website as well as the e-Newsletter could be worked out in consultation with communications persons of the member countries.
The members were in general agreement with the suggestions and requested the RBI to prepare a discussion paper addressing these issues, which would be circulated among members for their feedback/comments. It was agreed that technical note, among others, should also address issues such as maintenance cost, hyper links with other member countries, content consistent with IMF’s GDDS, etc.
CGM, PRD also informed the members that RBI had recently conducted a pilot training programme for the journalists of Nepal at College of Agricultural Banking, RBI’s premier training institute located in Pune. The programme was received well by those who participated in it. It was proposed to hold a similar training programme for the journalists of other member countries of SAARCFINANCE in near future.
The decision emerged after the discussion is that:
(d) Electronic publication/book form of time-series data on major economic variables
It was agreed that data relating to select major macroeconomic variables for the SAARC member countries may be placed as part of the SAARCFINANCE web folder.
(e) Improvement in the contents of the SAARCFINANCE e-Newsletter
The Secretariat had received (December 18, 2007) the draft model for the e-Newsletter prepared by Nepal Rastra Bank. However, it was agreed that CGM, PRD would prepare a technical note, suggesting how to go about in improving the e-Newsletter.
Inclusion of supplementary table featuring key macroeconomic data of the SAARC countries was discussed to serve as a quick reference for macroeconomic developments in the region. Bhutan delegate informed the members that RMA has been publishing Macroeconomic indicators for the SAARC Region in the Annual Report. It was agreed that Bhutan would forward a copy of the relevant extract from their Annual Report for finalizing selected major parameters for SAARC countries to be included in the SAARCFINANCE e-Newsletter.
On finalization of major select macroeconomic variables for the SAARC member countries, data may also be placed on the SAARCFINANCE web folder for the benefits of all members.
Major points discussed under each of the technical issues are given below -
(a) Framework on Regional Co-operation on Payments and Settlement System
Regarding the operationalisation of the Regional Payments Council, Dr. (Mrs.) Ranee Jayamaha, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has informed through Co-ordinator of Sri Lanka that she will be presenting a draft report at the next SAARCFINANCE Governors’ meeting in April 2008. Further, it has been informed that ‘SAARCFINANCE Payment Council’ has been set-up with co-chairs of India and Sri Lanka and road map in this regard will also be made available at the next Governors' meeting.
It was agreed that Sri Lanka would send the Secretariat suitable material regarding the status of operationalisation of the Regional Payments Council. It was also agreed that Sri Lanka may request Dr. (Mrs.) Ranee Jayamaha, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka on the issue of circulating the draft report prepared by Sri Lanka in this regard among members, before presenting it in the forthcoming SAARCFINANCE Governors’ meeting in April 2008.
(a) Formation of the South Asia Credit Bureau Associations for SAARC Region
Regarding the formation of South Asia Credit Bureau Association for SAARC Region, Dr. Ranee Jayamaha, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has informed through Co-ordinator of Sri Lanka that she will be presenting a draft report in this regard at the next SAARCFINANCE Governors’ meeting in April 2008.
It was agreed that all members would provide information to the Secretariat relating to the status of their respective credit bureau in terms of objectives, legal and institutional set-up, etc. The Secretariat would collate the material from all members and prepare a status report in this regard for the next SAARCFINANCE Governors’ meeting in April 2008. It was also agreed that Sri Lanka would extend support in preparing the status report in this regard.
The Co-ordinators were requested to send their suggestions for the preparation of potential agenda items for the forthcoming SAARCFINANCE Governors’ meeting scheduled to be held at Washington on April 12, 2008. In this regard, the Secretariat will also seek the convenient date, timing and venue for the SAARCFINANCE Governors’ meeting from all member countries in due course.
1. Research Projects/Symposia planned to be undertaken during 2008 and 2009 should be forwarded to the Secretariat by end February 2008.
2. Member country may request India or other member countries for technical assistance as part of SAARCFINANCE’s effort to share knowledge with one another;
3. All countries should forward their training programmes to the Secretariat by end-February 2008 for circulation so that member countries could take advantage of them. Those training programmes should also be hosted in the SAARCFINANCE Web folder;
4. Training on other issues such as banking regulation, payment system etc. may be requested to the member country concerned;
5. Central Bank of Sri Lanka to prepare a scheme of operationalisation of ‘Centre for Banking Studies’ providing various options of its financing for circulation;
6. PRD, RBI to prepare a draft on common website on SAARCFINANCE activities taking into account of IMF’s GDDS for circulation amongst member countries;
7. Central Bank of Sri Lanka to present the paper on the proposal of Regional Payments Council to the SAARC Governors’ meeting in Washington in April 2008;
8. Member countries should give their respective position with regard to South Asia Credit Bureau indicating objectives, institutional set up and legal structure to the Secretariat for consolidation; the proposal may be placed in the SAARC Governors’ meeting in April 2008.
At the end, Dr. R.K.Pattnaik, Adviser, thanked all the delegates for their active interest and participation in the proceedings. The Chairman also thanked the observers from the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Finance, Government of India for making it convenient to attend the meeting. Delegates appreciated RBI for its hospitality and excellent logistic support.
The meeting ended with a vote of thanks from the Chair.
The SAARCFINANCE Co-ordinators paid a courtesy visit to Deputy Governor, Dr. Rakesh Mohan in the evening of February 12, 2008. While the Co-ordinators were appreciative of the overall arrangements made by RBI, they reiterated the need for technical assistance from RBI as also utilizing the training opportunities being extended by member central banks for wider dissemination of knowledge and co-operation among member countries. They also underscored the need for a uniform SAARCFINANCE web folder for facilitating larger interaction among member countries. Deputy Governor, Dr. Mohan observed that RBI would extend all possible co-operation to SAARC member countries in this regard.
Mr. Abdul Hameed Mohamed, Executive Director, Economic Research and Statistics Division, Maldives Monetary Authority met Dr. R. K. Pattnaik, Adviser and Mr. Amitava Sardar, Director, Division of International Economic Relations on February 13, 2008 to explore the feasibility of strengthening their research Department in close collaboration with RBI. At the outset, a brief account of the overall structure of DEAP and the corresponding operational Department was given. Also, on his query, a list of leading academic and management institutions in India was provided to him. Mr. Mohamed expressed keen interest in building up lasting research relationship in the form of technical assistance with RBI, in particular, on such areas as compilation of balance of payments statistics and monetary statistics, survey on topical issues such as remittances, monetary policy operations, etc. In response, it was indicated to him that RBI would be glad to receive such request of technical assistance and do the needful expeditiously.
Annex I
9th SAARCFINANCE Co-ordinators’ Meeting
February 12, 2008, Mumbai, India
List of Participants
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| 1. Mr. Ahmad Feroz Rasikh |
Acting DG & Deputy DG Research, Monetary Policy Department, Da Afghanistan Bank and SAARCFINANCE Co-ordinator, Afghanistan |
| 2. Mr. Habibullah Bahar |
Economic Adviser, Bangladesh Bank & SAARCFINANCE Co-ordinator, Bangladesh |
| 3. Ms. Sonam Dema |
Research Officer, Research & Statistics Division, Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan and SAARCFINANCE Co-ordinator, Bhutan |
| 4. Dr. R.K. Pattnaik |
Adviser, Department of Economic Analysis and Policy, Reserve Bank of India & SAARCFINANCE Co-ordinator, India |
| 5. Mr. Abdul Hameed Mohamed |
Executive Director of Economic Research and Statistics Division, Maldives Monetary Authority & SAARCFINANCE Co-ordinator, Maldives |
| 6. Mr. Nara Bahadur Thapa |
Director, Research Department, Nepal Rastra Bank |
| 7. Mr. K.M. Abeykoon |
Deputy Director, Training Department, Central Bank of Sri Lanka & SAARCFINANCE Co-ordinator, Sri Lanka |
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| 8. Ms. Apoorva Srivastava |
Under Secretary, Ministry of External affairs, Government of India |
| 9. Ms. Sushmita Dasgupta |
Director, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India |
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| Ms. Alpana Kilawala |
Chief General Manager, Press Relation
Division (PRD), Reserve Bank of India |
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| 1. Mr.Amitava Sardar |
Director, Division of International Economic Relations |
| 2. Mr.J.B. Singh |
Assistant Adviser, Division of International Economic Relations |
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