The banks would need to look beyond their existing customer base and large corporates and reach out to rope in the vast number of small, retail and the SME clients which are presently deprived of bank credit. Alongside extending the reach of their banking services there would be a need to improve the products offered to customers and the quality of services.
This was also an important theme last October when Paul and I appeared before this Committee. These developments include the realignment of currencies in response to global imbalances, the higher prices of both energy and non-energy commodities, and growing competition from emerging-market economies. In Canada, we are seeing more evidence of sectoral adjustments to these global developments. Many Canadian commodity-producing sectors are expanding.