10  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Figure 9 Commodity prices  (index, 01/01/2007=100) 300  300  250  250  200  200  150  150  100  100  50  50  0  0 07  08 Copper  09 WTI oil  10  Agricultural products (*)  11 Gold  (*) Using the Godman Sachs aggregate index. Sources: Central Bank of Chile and Bloomberg. Figure 10 Nominal interest rates on Central Bank of Chile bonds (*) (percent) 6.50  6.50  6.25  6.25  6.00  6.00  5.75  5.75  5.50  5.50  5.25  5.25  5.00  5.00  4.75  4.75  Jun.11  BCP-2  Jul.11  BCP-5  Ago.11 BCP-10  (*) Dotted vertical line marks date of publication of June 2011's Monetary Policy Report. Source: Central Bank of Chile.
The common objective of all these efforts is to identify possible measures for improving the safety, efficiency and integrity of the regional payment systems. 7.4 The most demanding factor, common to all, is the rapidly changing global payment system infrastructure that is challenging the existence of domestic and regional payment systems, which are lagging behind. Given the increasing sophistication of cross-border transactions, the need to mitigate risks involved in using outmoded infrastructure has to be given priority. The SAARC payment system development strategy should therefore be designed to cater not only to the region’s present needs, but also its future demands. 8. How does the SAARC Payments Initiative work? 8.1 Let me briefly set out the proposed institutional structure of the SAARC Payments Initiative. 8.2 By consensus, Hon. Governors of the SAARC central banks requested the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to take the lead in this effort. We are happy to be the catalyst and promoter, but hope that at an appropriate time, this Initiative will be driven by the other SAARC member central banks. In consultation with the SAARC Governors, we have already appointed a SAARC Payments Council (SPC), which is composed of the chairpersons of the National Payments Councils (NPCs) in each of the SAARC member countries or by senior officials appointed by the Governors of central banks in countries which do not have NPCs.