People in the informal sector and SMEs who hitherto were unable to open savings accounts with banks due to high minimum deposits and service charges should find the “Tusunge” Savings Product attractive. Ladies and Gentlemen, in the face of an ever growing fear of donor fatigue, public deposits and private capital are likely to be the main source of funding for the microfinance industry to achieve the growth required for it to have significant impact on financial inclusion and poverty reduction across the region. Notwithstanding this, allow me now to reflect on some of the key challenges in the financial sector that all of us must strive to address: (i)  Increasing access to financial services by the SME’s who form the backbone of the economy. This sector provides employment for many people who cannot be absorbed into formal employment. However, increased access to financial services remains a key challenge to this segment. (ii)  Although the Bank of Zambia has licensed 25 Microfinance Institutions, most of them operate along the line of rail providing mainly salary-backed loans. There is need for microfinance institutions to support production by providing finance to agriculture and manufacturing instead of merely providing consumption related salary backed loans. (iii)  There is need for all microfinance institutions to utilise the credit reference bureau at all times. A robust credit reporting apparatus will enable the financial sector to share critical customer information that will lead to lowering the credit risk and ultimately lending rates in the financial sector.
Oil prices are of importance for the activity level in the Norwegian economy and the government revenues. In recent years, oil prices have risen sharply. High demand for oil, limited idle production capacity and uncertain production levels in many oil-producing countries have contributed to this. Oil prices have risen to over USD 74 per barrel, partly as a result of the uncertain political situation in a number of producer countries. Futures prices for Brent Blend are now more than USD 72 per barrel until autumn 2008. Futures prices indicate that oil prices will remain at around USD 70 per barrel several years ahead. This is higher than the level assumed in the March 2006 Inflation Report. Statoil and Hydro gas prices have also increased sharply in recent months. Petroleum production is expected to increase gradually in the period to 2011, and decline thereafter. Developments in the gas market will become increasingly important. During the next 10 years, gas production could become as high as oil production, measured by energy content. High oil prices have led to a strong increase in activity on the Norwegian continental shelf. Many projects have been launched to increase recovery from fields in operation. A number of companies have revised up the long-term oil prices that are used as a basis for investment decisions, but they are still moderate compared with futures prices. Further out in the projection period, developments in petroleum-related investment become highly uncertain.