To
facilitate the working of the SAARCFINANCE network, it was decided at the 13th
SAARCFINANCE Group meeting that coordinators should meet twice a year and 2-3
delegates could represent each country. Seven coordinators' meetings
took place so far. The 4th and 5th meetings of the SAARCFINANCE coordinators were
held in Islamabad on 23rd September 2004 and 30th August 2005 respectively. The
6th and 7th meetings of SAARCFINANCE coordinators were held in Dhaka, Bangladesh
on July 5, 2006 and March 15, 2007 respectively. The 7th SAARCFINANCE Coordinators’
Meeting discussed a number of issues and agreed on the following points: - The coordinators agreed in principal to conduct an annual research project
on a topic which has a high regional concern. However, the delegates decided that
they would discuss further for selecting an appropriate topic.
-
Regarding the idea of standardization of SAARCFINANCE web folder in SAARC central
banks’ websites, the delegates agreed that all SAARC central banks would
follow a standard format, General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) designed by
IMF instead of taking another initiative by the SAARCFIANCE.
-
Regarding improvement of the current contents of the SAARCFINANCE e-newsletter,
the delegates agreed that they would inform later in consultation with their respective
authorities.
- The SAARCFINANCE coordinator of Bangladesh proposed
to host a seminar on “Corporate Governance in Banks and Financial Institutions”
sometime in December 2007.
- The SAARCFINANCE coordinator of Bangladesh
hinted that the Governor of Bangladesh Bank and the current chairperson of SAARCFINANCE
desires to hand over SAARCFINANCE chair to Reserve Bank of India in the Twenty-eight
Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers to be held in New Delhi on 2 April 2007.
As
per the decision of 7th and 8th SAARCFINANCE meetings, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan,
Sri Lanka and maldives nominated SAARCFINANCE coordinators in their respective Ministry
of Finance. However, the 9th meeting of the Network decided that the coordinators
from central banks are sufficient at present to deal with the SAARCFINANCE matters.
Subsequently it was also decided during the 4th meeting of coordinators to leave
it up to the country concerned. However, as decided earlier, all correspondences
and information sharing would continue to take place through central banks' coordinators.
The 9th SAARCFINANCE meeting decided that since the current workload
is not sufficient for establishing a permanent formal SAARCFINANCE Secretariat,
the existing arrangement be kept continued.
In
the case of the involvement of the financial institutions, as per the decision
of the 9th SAARCFINANCE meeting, the institutions that are under the regulatory
purview of the central banks could be invited to participate in the SAARCFINANCE
activities like research, training, seminars etc., if such activities would be
useful for them. In the said meeting it was also decided that the multilateral
institutions like the World Bank, IMF, ADB, BIS etc., could be involved for technical
matters in the training and seminar programs but the leadership should lie with
the SAARCFINANCE itself.
Sharing
information among the SAARCFINANCE institutions progressed satisfactorily. A good
number of publications and other documents on various policy issues were exchanged
among the member country's institutions.
As
per the decision of 4th SAARCFINANCE Coordinators’ Meeting, State Bank of
Pakistan, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh Bank and Nepal Rastra Bank have
created a link of SAARCFINANCE at their respective central banks' websites. Other
SAARC central banks are expected to create the said link soon.
As
per the decision of the 14th SAARCFINANCE Group Meeting held in Singapore on 20
September 2006, the Bangladesh Bank has already launched the first issue of half-yearly
(December 2006) SAARCFINANCE e-Newsletter in January 2007. It is a regular electronic
publication designed mainly to present news items mostly related to SAARCFINANCE
activities.
Since the inception
of the SAARCFINANCE, 197 officers visited various institutions of member
countries under Staff Exchange Program. Itcovered a
broad range of issues: from risk-based supervision to human resource management
and forward marketing arrangements for agricultural product, etc. Considering
the effectiveness of the staff exchange program, including training, seminars,
etc., the matter of cost sharing is left entirely to the countries concerned.
Bangladesh | 11 | - | 4 | - | - | 15 |
Bhutan | 31 | 7 | - | 8 | - | 46 |
India | - | 4 | 2 | - | 5 | 11 |
maldives | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | 6 |
Nepal | 7 | 44 | 7 | - | 7 | 65 |
Pakistan | - | 2 | - | - | - | 2 |
Sri Lanka | 20 | - | 26 | 2 | 4 | 52 |
Total | 71 | 61 | 39 | 10 | 16 | 197 |
Note: 1) RBI– Reserve Bank
of India, CBSL-Central Bank of Sri Lanka, SBP-State Bank of Pakistan NRB-Nepal
Rastra Bank, BB-Bangladesh Bank.
2) Number of officials visited and hosted
by the member countries may differ with actual numbers due to information
gap.
It
was decided at the 13th SAARCFINANCE Group meeting that every member central bank
(except Bhutan and maldives) would organize at least one seminar every year. The
SAARCFINANCE members conducted 12 seminars, 3 studies, one workshop
and 3 Governors' symposiums from September 1998 till now.
Seminars | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
Workshops | | 1 | | | | 1 |
Governors' Symposiums | 1 | 1 | | | 1 | 3 |
Studies | | 1 | 1 | 1 | | 3 |
Total | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 19 |
III. Country-wise activities
of SAARCFINANCE since January 2006
Afghanistan
As a special invitee
to the SAARCFINANCE, Afghanistan has participated in the SAARCFINANCE Governors'
Symposium on Microcredit held in Dhaka and the 14th SAARCFINANCE Group Meeting
held in Singapore.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bank organized a SAARCFINANCE Governors' Symposium on Microcredit during February
15-16, 2006. Hon’ble Minister for Finance and Planning, Government of the
People's Republic of Bangladesh Mr. M. Saifur Rahman inaugurated the symposium.
The Governors, Deputy Governors and other senior officials of SAARC countries
including Afghanistan attended the symposium. The local participants in the symposium
were from Bangladesh Bank, Nationalized Commercial Banks and Specialized Banks,
different Ministries, Palli Karma-Shahayak Foundation, Credit and Development
Forum, Grameen Bank, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd., Local Non-Government Organizations
(NGOs), Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development and Social Development Foundation.
In the symposium, the participants from SAARC member countries and Afghanistan
presented their country papers focusing experiences of microcredit operations
of the respective economies. A keynote paper on "Microcredit: Banking
With the Poor Without Collateral" was also presented at the symposium by
Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, Managing Director, Grameen Bank. The
proceedings and papers of the symposium have already been published in a book
form and an electronic version is also available in web folder for SAARCFINANCE
in Bangladesh Bank (www.bangladeshbank.org.bd).
A
three-member team of Nepal Rastra visited Bangladesh for gaining practical experiences
on “Household Budget Survey'' during July 11-13, 2006.
Under information sharing,
Bangladesh Bank has supplied the information/materials on the following areas
as requested by the member central banks since January 2006:
Central
Bank of Sri Lanka | 1. Exchange
Control Provisions |
| 2.
Commercial Banking System |
| 3.
Short Selling of Government Securities |
| 4.
Payment of Interest on Demand Deposits |
| 5.
Oil Prices in SAARC Countries |
| 6.
Islamic Banking |
State
Bank of Pakistan | Incentives
to the Textile Industry |
Nepal
Rastra Bank | Maximum Share
Holding Limit of Banks |
Reserve
Bank of India | Information
and Communication Technology |
Bangladesh Bank has uploaded the first
issue of half-yearly (December 2006) SAARCFINANCE e-Newsletter in the SAARCFINANCE
web folder at its website (www.bangladeshbank.org.bd.)
Bhutan
Bhutan
participated in various programs organized by other SAARC member countries, but
did not arrange any program in 2006 under the SAARCFINANCE.
India
Reserve
Bank of India has prepared a technical paper on “Oil Price
Hike- Implications for SAARC Countries" in January 2006.
Two officials from the Nepal
Rastra Bank, viz. Mr. Manoj Kumar Gyawali and Ms. Arya Joshi had visited the Reserve
Bank of India during November 27- December 1, 2006 on an observation tour to study
foreign exchange management.
Maldives
Maldives participated in various programs organized
by other SAARC member countries, but did not arrange any program in 2006 under
the SAARCFINANCE.
Nepal
Nepal Rastra Bank hosted a SAARCFINANCE
Seminar on "Human Resource Management in SAARC Central Banks" in Kathmandu
during August 21-23, 2006. The seminar was participated by 16 middle to senior
level officials from SAARC central banks, except Bangladesh. The principal objective
of this seminar was to explore the policy, strategy, tools and techniques that
have been used for managing human resources in the SAARC Central Banks through
the active discussions amongst the participants. The seminar also aimed to equip
the participants with new ideas and practices and update them on latest developments
in the area of human resource management. Resource persons from Reserve Bank of
India, Central Bank of Sri Lanka and Nepal Rastra Bank contributed for the seminar.
Under the staff exchange
program, a five-member team of Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan visited Nepal
Rastra Bank in November 2006. The objective Fof the visit was to provide a broader
view and enhance knowledge on the foreign exchange policy, regulations, regimes
and market.
Pakistan
State Bank
of Pakistan (SBP) organized the Seminar on SME (Small & Medium Enterprise)
Finance during 20-22 November 2006 at National Institute of Banking & Finance
(NIBAF), Islamabad. Deputy Governor, SBP, while inaugurating the Seminar as Chief
Guest, highlighted the emerging role of SMEs in the process of economic development
and the future challenges faced by them. He also apprised the audience about efforts
being made by SBP to play an effective role in the promotion of SMEs and other
sectors of the economy. Prior to the speech of Chief Guest, Kazi Abdul Muktadir,
Managing Director, NIBAF made the opening remarks while Mr. Ayub-ul-Hasan, SAARCFINANCE
Coordinator of State Bank of Pakistan presented the vote of thanks.
Delegates
from all member countries (except maldives and Bangladesh) attended the Seminar
(Economic Adviser Bangladesh Bank, Mr. Habibullah Bahar could not attend the seminar
due to unavoidable circumstances. However, his paper was presented to the participants).
The participating teams presented country papers with a view to sharing their
respective experiences and to generate a meaningful dialogue on the subject matter.
In addition to knowledge sharing during Seminar, participants were provided
with opportunity to have a closer look of the cultural and historical heritage
of Pakistan. In this regard, participants’ feedback was highly encouraging.
Strong appreciation was received, not only for contents/knowledge ability of speakers
but also for hospitality and arrangements made by State Bank of Pakistan.
The following activities took place during the year with respect to the captioned
program:
- A familiarization program for two-member Delegation from
Sri Lanka was arranged after the Seminar on SME Finance, at Islamabad and Lahore,
during 25-28 November 2006.
- Three participants from Nepal
Rastra Bank visited SBP, Karachi, from August 3-5, 2006, in the area of Secretarial
Training.
- Six participants from the Central Bank of
Sri Lanka visited SBP, Karachi, during May 2-5, 2006 in the area of Staff Welfare Policy
- Executive Director, Nepal Rastra Bank visited SBP, Karachi, from
January 25-27, 2006, for gaining experience in the area of Pass Book
System in State Bank of Pakistan.
State
Bank of Pakistan handled the information/materials on the following areas as requested
by the member central banks in 2006:
Central
Bank of Sri Lanka | 1. Short
Selling of Government Securities |
| 1. Payment of Interest on Demand Deposits |
Royal
Monetary Authority of Bhutan |
Communication Policy |
Bangladesh
Bank | 1. Rules of Business
2. Retail Prices of Petroleum Products |
Nepal
Rastra Bank | 1. Employees’
Union Activities
2. Library Information
3. Maximum Share Holding Limit of Banks> |
Sri
Lanka
Central Bank of Sri Lanka organized a SAARCFINANCE seminar on "Oil Price
Hike: Implications for SAARC Countries" on 20 January 2006. The seminar focused
on the recent oil price hike and its implications for countries in the South Asian
Region. Major points of the discussion were the magnitude of the oil price hike,
and views and experiences on the impact of the oil price hike, policy responses
and strategies adopted by South Asian countries to mitigate the adversities associated
with the price hike, and policies and measures that would help lower the impact
in the future. Governors and senior executives from SAARC central banks (except
Bangladesh and Afghanistan), officials from ministry of finance and resource persons
from World Bank and IMF participated the seminar. The proceedings of the seminar
have already been published in a book form.
-
Twenty-eight officials from Nepal Rastra Bank visited Central Bank of Sri Lanka
in different periods in 2006.
- One official from Royal Monetary
Authority of Bhutan also visited Central Bank of Sri Lanka during 15-20 August
2006.
IV. Ongoing and Planned
Activities of SAARCFINANCE
Some
ongoing and planned activities of SAARCFINANCE are given below:
- Nepal Rastra Bank is going to host
a seminar on "Remittance Management" on 9-11 May 2007.
- Central Bank of Sri Lanka will host a seminar on "Payment Systems"
some time in 2007
- maldives Monetary Authority will host a seminar
on "Implementation of BASEL-II" sometime in 2007.
- Central Bank of Sri Lanka is expected to co-ordinate
the study on "Integration of Rural Commodity and Financial Markets".
- India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka would undertake basic studies
of their system relating to "Contractual Savings", while other members
would contribute their experiences.
The proposals of visit of the officials from the following SAARC central banks are under progress.
| Bangladesh Bank |
State Bank of Pakistan |
Risk-based Internal Auditing System |
| Nepal Rastra Bank |
State Bank of Pakistan |
Foreign Bank Branch System |
| Nepal Rastra Bank |
Bangladesh Bank |
Central Banking Course |
| Nepal Rastra Bank |
Central Bank of Sri Lanka |
Accounting, Audit and Budgetary System |
