Getting Finance in South Asia 2009

Abstract

This report, getting finance in South
 Asia 2009, published annually by the unit, reaffirms the
 World Bank's commitment to working with developing
 member countries to promote financial sector development and
 create financial systems that are sound, stable, supportive
 of growth, and responsive to people's needs. This
 program has enabled the Bank to initiate a dialogue with the
 supervisory authorities in South Asia to improve their data
 collection efforts, which will in turn strengthen their
 off-site supervision work. It also provides the impetus for
 the Bank to expand its monitoring and evaluation work. The
 getting finance indicators, and the country rankings that
 are based on them, are expected to become an increasingly
 important reference tool for the Bank in monitoring and
 evaluating development objectives and outcomes in its
 financial sector operations. These indicators should also
 prove to be a valuable tool for financial sector supervisory
 agencies in South Asia. The updated indicators, country
 rankings, and benchmarks should better equip these agencies
 to monitor the health of their respective country's
 banking system and to assess its robustness and
 sustainability relative to others in South Asia and in more
 developed economies.