Second, the growth of property development loans outpaced the growth of total lending of financial institutions markedly. The average annual growth rates recorded 29.43 and 14.62 percent respectively during 1998-2003. While total real estate loans including personal housing loans grew at an average rate of 44.35 percent, highlighting out-performance over other loans.
We harness our wide-ranging economic, financial stability and regulatory expertise to protect consumers' interests. I will hand you over to Deputy Governor Derville Rowland shortly who will speak about the consumer protection framework, the themes in the paper and the role our planned engagement will play in the evolution of the framework. But first let me explain why we are publishing this paper today.