*  *  *  I am delighted to be here with you this morning at the opening of this new branch of the Bank of Baroda in Rose Belle. This makes it the ninth Bank of Baroda branch in Mauritius and also the ninth bank branch in Rose Belle.
As demonstrated here in Rose Belle, the branch network of our banking sector continues to expand, thus giving the lie to observers of the financial scene who have been predicting the end of the brick-and-mortar model of banks.