2  BIS Review 143/2008  This outlook has increased the scope for many central banks to reduce interest rates. Until quite recently, concerns about inflation saw a majority of central banks tightening monetary policy. Through to the September quarter of this year, those central banks raising interest rates had consistently outnumbered those reducing them, by a significant margin.
In the case of emerging and developing countries, basic financial services are underdeveloped, and market growth can be expected to a certain extent, simply by introducing and promoting these basic services. On the other hand, both in France and Japan, basic financial services are already embedded in people's daily life.