SAARCFINANCE – FUNCTIONS AND OBJECTIVES

BRIEF HISTORY

          The SAARCFINANCE was established in 1998 as a regional network of the SAARC Central Bank Governors and Finance Secretaries. Its meetings take place twice a year, concurrently with the IMF/World Bank Annual and Spring meetings. The Network has held eighteen meetings since its inception in 1998, following the 10th SAARC Summit held in Colombo. Fourteen of such meetings were held in Washington D.C. and one each in Prague (the Czech Republic), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Singapore and Dhaka (Bangladesh).

OBJECTIVES

          The primary function of the Network is to conduct a dialogue on macro-economic policies of the region and share experiences and ideas of the member countries. The Terms of Reference of the SAARCFINANCE were approved at the 11th SAARC Summit held in Kathmandu in January 2002. The Summit also accorded approval to the SAARCFINANCE as a formal SAARC body.

ORGANIZATIONAL SET-UP

          The SAARCFINANCE Chair moves in rotation with the change of the SAARC Chair. Dr. Ishrat Husain, Governor, State Bank of Pakistan served as the 3rd Chairman of the Network during April 2004 – September 2005. The SAARCFINANCE Chair moved to Sri Lanka from India during 18th meeting of the Network held in Washington on 11th October, 2008.

COORDINATORS

          Member Central Banks also get represented by their respective SAARCFINANCE Coordinators. They meet twice a year to facilitate the working of the Network. Ten meetings of Coordinators have taken place so far. Mr. Ayub-ul-Hasan, Senior Joint Director, Research Department, SBP is the current SAARCFINANCE Coordinator for Pakistan.
          As per decision taken by 7th & 8th SAARCFINANCE meetings, five member countries, including Pakistan, have also nominated Network’s Coordinators from their respective Ministry of Finance.

SECRETARIAT

         The Network has a rotating Secretariat, which gets shifted to the Central Bank of the country that holds its Chairmanship. The object of the Secretariat is to assist the Chairman in discharging his duties effectively. Economic Policy Department, State Bank of Pakistan, which took charge of the Network’s Secretariat in April 2004, performed this duty till its shifting to Bangladesh Bank in September 2005. Currently, the Secretariat of the Network has been moved to Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), effective October, 2008.

INFORMATION SHARING

          Sharing of information among the SAARCFINANCE institutions - one of the major objectives of the Network - has progressed satisfactorily. In this regard, a large number of publications and other documents on various policy issues were exchanged among the member institutions.

SEMINARS/SYMPOSIUMS/WORKSHOPS/STUDIES, ETC.

          Seminars/Symposiums/Workshops/Studies were also conducted, on topical issues, by a number of member countries. State Bank of Pakistan also conducted a Seminar on “Financial Sector Assessment” on 24-25 October 2002, besides undertaking a Study on the subject in the same year. SBP organized another Seminar on “Conduct of Monetary Policy and the Management of Capital Flows” during 29-31 August 2005, followed by third Seminar on “SME (Small & Medium Enterprise) Finance” during 20-22 November 2006. The latest in the series of Seminars conducted by Pakistan was on “Basel II Implementation in South Asia”, which was organized during 26-28 June, 2008.

STAFF EXCHANGE PROGRAM

          Since inception of the Network, 241 officers visited various institutions of member countries under SAARCFINANCE Staff Exchange Program. The matters of the Staff Exchange covered a broad range of issues, ranging from risk-based supervision to human resource management and forward marketing arrangements for agricultural produce, etc. Pakistan provided hospitalities to 39 officers (4 from Bangladesh, 2 from India, 7 from Nepal and 26 from Sri Lanka) while 4 officers from State Bank of Pakistan made outside visits (2 each to Central Bank of Sri Lanka and Reserve Bank of India) under the said Program. Following table gives country/institution-wise position in respect of the activities under Staff Exchange Program:

PROFILE OF STAFF EXCHANGE PROGRAM*