Thirdly, much of the practical changeover work will occur in the retail trade and shops, partly because this is where we use cash and partly because the banks have cut down on their cash handling. However, conditions vary considerably in the retail trade with regard to, for instance, technical equipment and security. It is necessary to ensure the entire changeover functions in a way that is felt by the general public to be simple and secure. How should we deal with the challenges? To summarise, one can say that there are two groups of challenges on the Swedish payments market. One concerns the slightly longer-term challenges following on from developments on the payments market, and the other concerns more near-term challenges regarding the banknote and coin changeover. Let me begin with cash and the near-term challenges. The cash changeover 2015–2017 The Riksbank has over a long time, and since its planning began in 2008, had a dialogue with the various participants in the market regarding the banknote and coin changeover. This means that the banks, cash-in-transit companies and retail trade have been able to influence every part of the work, especially the timetable. This has been very important to the Riksbank, as we no longer play any role in the practical handling of cash. The timetable for the changeover has been divided into two stages and extends over a relatively long period, which means that all of those involved have had plenty of time to prepare.
In recent years regional central banks have also built up a large addition to their foreign reserves. Such a large pool of domestic savings should be channeled into long-term investment in the domestic markets to support growth and development in the region. At present however, the dominant financing tools in most Asian countries still continues to be short-term bank loans, and bond markets in the region still remain underdeveloped. The bulk of local savings has instead been channeled to international financial centers with a wider alternative for investment and well-developed financial markets. At the same time, Asia is a recipient of short-term portfolio flows that had been destabilizing and highly volatile. These funds have further aggravated the problem of maturity and currency mismatches making the region more vulnerable to fluctuations in international capital movements. Creating a more stable financial system Developing regional bond markets for Asia: Asian savings for Asian investment Efficient and liquid bond markets in Asia - both at the local and regional levels, would enable the private sector as well as the public sector in Asia to raise and invest long-term capital without the currency and maturity risks which accompany international capital flows into the region. Development of regional bond markets will help governments and businesses in the region reduce currency and maturity mismatches.