This does not yet account for the losses relating to under-reported taxes which is directly enabled by a cash economy – a cost borne by society as a whole. A 2005 study estimated this figure to be USD100 billion annually in the United States alone The task of calculating the relative total cost of cash and cashless payments is a difficult one. Apart from the methodological challenges, the findings for each study are also likely to differ according to the nuances of each country. Nonetheless it is a worthwhile endeavour. Policy makers around the world have made positive progress in this area, and I believe we will see more efforts on this front in the coming years. This leads to another dimension of the social cost consideration, which is the impact on financial inclusion. Millions of people live in rural areas globally, with little or no access to the modern infrastructures necessary to facilitate cashless solutions. The availability of cash is therefore paramount in ensuring that they continue to be seamlessly included in the financial system. At the same time, the success of mobile payments operator M-Pesa in rural Kenya has demonstrated that cashless alternatives can in fact be a means to promote financial inclusion for the unbanked. Here in Malaysia, where mobile banking transactions have tripled in the past year, there is potential to leverage the high mobile penetration rate to improve financial inclusion. Stability The third element is stability.
Data on developments in foreign trade of economy reveal a contracted trade exchange in the first five months of 2012. Value of exports marked a low annual growth of 1.3% in this period, reflecting the moderation of foreign demand and price developments in global markets. In this period, imports shrank by 2.0% in annual terms. These developments resulted to a decreased trade deficit in the first five months of the year by the annualised rate of 4.2%. Developments in foreign trade were determined mostly by electrical energy trade exchanges in this period. Excluding this effect, the growth in exports would be higher and the contraction in imports deeper, resulting in a contracted trade deficit, at 18.1%. The performance of monetary indicators was in line with the developments in the real economy and our analysis show contained monetary pressures on inflation. The annual growth of M3 was 8.7% in May, maintaining the average rates of the previous month of the current year. The growth paces of money supply slowed down compared to a year earlier, reflecting the lower demand of economic agents for money. The consolidated fiscal position  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  was coupled with a decrease of public sector borrowing, whereas private agents of economy reflected a low demand for financing. Lending to the private sector rose by 7.5% in May, pursuing the slowing trend, which has started since the end of previous year.