This gap is especially pronounced in the upper echelons of decision-making structures where women make up 28% of board membership and a third of senior management with limited participation beyond marketing positions; 2. The number of borrowers was dominated by men. The number of men with loan accounts in every 1,000 adults was 27 at the end of 2014 compared to 12 for women; 3. When it comes to paying back of loans, women had better repayment behaviour than men. The percentage of non-performing loans for women averaged 4.3% compared to 4.9% for men. Further, women-owned small business accounts exhibited the lowest percentage of nonperforming loans, which ranged between 1-3% during this period. This is, on average, 17 percentage-points lower than that of men. This showed that women and women-owned businesses are more prudent borrowers than men and men-owned businesses; 4. Few financial institutions, offered gender- focused products and services. These products and services were mostly tailored for individual women and women smallholder businesses; 5. Most financial institutions’ Information Management Systems are unable to provide sex2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  disaggregated data. Of the 64 institutions surveyed, only 25 institutions (mostly banks and microfinance institutions) had information management systems that can generate reports based on the sex of account holders, such as the number of women-owned and male-owned accounts, and the number of male and female borrowers; and 6. The number of digital wallets, or e-wallets, has been on the increase. It rose steadily in both number and value.
On the fiscal front, cuts in wage and corporate income taxes differentiated across regions have been put in place last week to support the economy that is already growing at a moderate pace. 1  On March 15, 2009 Special Consumption Tax (SCT) rates were decreased on vehicles to %18 from %37, and on durable goods and other electrical household appliances to %0 from %6.7. These rates were increased on vehicles to %28, on durable goods to %2 and on other electrical household appliances to %6.7 on 16 June, 2009. By October 1, 2009, SCT rates were brought back to the levels before March 2009. Similarly, Value Added Tax (VAT) rates on furniture and IT products were slashed to %8 on March 30, 2009, before being raised back to the initial rate of %18 on October 1, 2009. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  Dear Participants, So far I have touched on the impacts of movements in commodity prices on inflation and economic growth. Now I will talk about the impact of fluctuations in commodity prices on foreign trade balances. The dependency of the Turkish economy on energy imports makes the current accounts balance more sensitive to changes in commodity prices. Uncertainties regarding the global economy in recent years and the exceptionally loose monetary policies adopted by advanced economies, such as the United States, Japan and the Euro Area, foreshadow the high probability of continued excess volatility in commodity prices.