Cash and cash equivalents’ include notes and coins on hand, unrestricted balances held with Central Bank and highly liquid financial assets with original maturities of three months or less from the date of acquisition that are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in their fair value, and are used by the Group and the Bank in the management of its short-term commitments

Note 1: Unrestricted balances with the Central Bank represent amounts above the minimum cash reserve requirement.

The table below shows the credit quality and the maximum exposure to credit risk for short term placements with other banks based on the Bank’s external credit rating system and year-end stage classification. The amounts presented are gross of impairment allowances.