Like the privatisation of the distribution system, the facility at Arlanda is a part of the Riksbank’s efforts to streamline cash handling. The 19 Riksbank offices that conducted these operations 10 years ago will have been reduced to one by 2013. In the same period, the number of personnel will have been reduced from around 300 to approximately 10 people. 7  Payment Security Report Sweden 2008, VISA Europe. 8  I am talking about the Observatory for Payment Card Security (Observatoire de la sécurité des cartes de paiement) which since 2004 produces an annual report that gives an objective account of the state of the card industry in France. BIS Review 7/2010  5  The Riksbank also recently evaluated the use of cash in Sweden and concluded that the current Swedish banknote and coin series is becoming outdated. There is a need to further develop the security details. It may also be sensible to make the relatively heavy Swedish coins lighter. Another problem is that the level of coin circulation is low. A few years ago, every Swedish household had an average of SEK 850 in coins stored in a bowl, jar or money box. It is hardly likely that this figure is lower today. Partly on the basis of this evaluation, the Riksbank has decided that the 50-öre coin is no longer needed. It will therefore be withdrawn during the autumn and öre will thereafter only exist as a virtual arithmetical unit. I think it feels rather strange to imagine this virtual öre.
Today, in the aftermath of global financial crisis, the key focus of central banks is both the successful conduct of monetary policy and macroprudential policy, in order to reinforce each other to stabilize economies. In Sri Lanka too, monetary policy formulation, operational framework and strategies adopted, have all evolved in line with the changing structure of the economy, developments in the financial markets, and the availability of data and communication strategies. I do not intend to discuss  BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  these changes in detail here, but would like to highlight that a greater coordination of monetary and fiscal policies would become even more crucial in the implementation of monetary policy and achieving macroeconomic stability, in the future than in the past. Another position that should be clear to us is that the need for harmonization between the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance, is not a virtue that has been suggested recently, but a vital ingredient that had been provided for, since the establishment of the Central Bank, in order to ensure the sound economic management of the country. The recent evolution of our economy Armed with that background, I would now like to proceed to share with you, some instances of harmonization that has taken place in the recent past in our country. However, before I do that, I think it is necessary to first touch upon the recent evolution of our economy in order to set the stage for what would follow.