Having done that, let me move on to look at the current position. The immediate background at this point is the review of card-payments reforms that the Board undertook in 2007–2008. In thinking about the approach taken in that review, it’s worth keeping in mind that the Reserve Bank has described itself as a reluctant regulator.
One important lesson we have learned from experience -- including our own in Canada -- is that countries must, above all, follow sound and credible macroeconomic policies. This means a fiscal policy that avoids unsustainable public sector deficits and debts, and a monetary policy aimed at low and stable inflation. But the question of a country’ s exchange rate policy is also very relevant.