The highly leveraged lending operations in the backdrop of asset-price bubbles might require adjustments in the lending margins and risk-based capital requirements. An issue in this regard is the extent to which these should be considered akin to the erstwhile selective credit controls.
The first challenge is stepping up agriculture production and productivity. We have, of course, come a long way from the chronic food shortages of the early years of independence; and even as population increased, we have been able to maintain food selfsufficiency, thanks to investment in irrigation, improved farming practices and better technologies.