ZIBAC meeting •  A second meeting for the Zambia International Business Advisory Council (ZIBAC), was held in Livingstone from 5 to 7 March 2004. During the meeting, ZIBAC members and the private sector, represented by the Zambia Business Forum (ZBF), applauded the Bank of Zambia and the Government for achieving relative stability in the macroeconomic environment. This is reflected in the relative stability in the exchange rate and the downward movement in interest rates for which the weighted Treasury bill yield rate entered the single-digit region by early March 2004. This trend is due to, among other factors, the reduced Government borrowing from the financial system and indeed your cooperation as banks, especially those  BIS Review 27/2004  7  that have responded by appreciable adjustments in their base rates. The other aspect was that of inflation, which slowed down to 17.2% in December 2003 from 26.7% in December 2002 and the further fall to 16.8% by February 2004. Accordingly, calls were made for the Bank and the Government to continue with the efforts to stabilise the macroeconomic environment, since stability is one major consideration in investors’ decisions for investment destinations. While ZIBAC and ZBF members commended commercial banks for positively responding to the Bank of Zambia and Government actions by reducing lending rates, they pointed out that the cost of borrowing for the productive private sector was still high and that there was need to further lower lending rates so as to make loans affordable.

Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Global financial stability and the internationalisation of financial systems in emerging economies Speech by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, at the EuromoneyQatar Conference “Global financial stability and the internationalisation of financial systems in emerging economies”, Doha, 11 December 2012. *  *  *  It is my honour to be here in Doha to speak at this Euromoney-Qatar Conference on “Global Finance Re-designed”. I wish to thank the Qatar Central Bank for the invitation to speak at this event. In this current global environment, the unprecedented and wide ranging global policy responses have yet to produce financial stability and a sustainable recovery of the global economy. The intensification of the globalization of finance in this decade has resulted in an even more connected and interdependent world. While the financial systems and economies in most parts of the world felt the effects of the recent global financial crisis, it has not discouraged the pace of internationalization of financial systems, in particular, in emerging economies. My address this morning will be on financial stability and the internationalization of financial systems in emerging economies. My remarks will cover the benefits and challenges of such internationalization, the lessons that can be drawn from the recent global financial crisis, the Malaysian experience on the internationalization of our financial system. Benefits and challenges of internationalisation of financial systems While there are significant benefits from internationalization of financial systems, the resulting increased international financial integration brings with it new risks and challenges.