Although the gradual move out of cash has made paper-based instruments such as money orders, postal orders, bank drafts etc., popular for several decades, their market sizes have continued to decline, largely due to inherited inefficiencies and cumbersome processes in effecting and settling payments. Some of these retail payment instruments and systems have now been replaced by electronic payment instruments and cards, and the tendency is to move towards electronic credit and debit transfers. According to the statistical reports of the Bank for International Settlements, some interesting movements in the use of retail payments in selected countries can be seen. In volume terms, France, Germany, Italy and the UK have reduced cheque use from a range of 3-38 percent of total non-cash payments, respectively, in 2000 to a range of 1-26 percent in 2006, while there are no cheques at all in the Netherlands. In Brazil too, cheques have decreased from 57 to 25 percent or less in the same period. Credit and debit transfers and cards, on the other hand, have risen significantly in these countries. This picture is different to that of India, where cheque use has reduced at a slow pace from 84% in 2004 to 73% in 2007 and in Sri Lanka from 75% to 65% in the same period, indicating the dominance of cheques. I believe the situation is the same for other countries in the SAARC region.
Jean-Pierre Roth: The current economic and monetary policy situation Summary of a speech by Mr Jean-Pierre Roth, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements, at the Centro di Studi Bancari, Vezia, 17 September 2007. The complete speech can be found in French on the Swiss National Bank’s website (www.snb.ch). *  *  *  It is difficult to determine to what extent the turmoil in the US sub-prime mortgage market impacts on the real economy. It has hit Switzerland at a time when our economy is in enviably good shape. Should the situation in the financial markets not deteriorate any further, it is hard to imagine these factors abruptly slowing economic growth. With its decision to let the Libor slide back towards 2.75% in the short term, the SNB has clearly signalled to the markets an easing of the situation. In Switzerland, price stability has been maintained for the past 13 years, economic growth is significantly higher than in the 1990s and our unemployment rate is the lowest of all industrialised countries. It is our goal to preserve this favourable situation. BIS Review 102/2007  1