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.