Over the following months, they also injected liquidity into markets that were on the verge of drying up, and acted as lenders of last resort by providing liquidity to distressed financial institutions. 3 The importance of providing liquidity and acting as lenders of last resort is the main lesson which central banks took away from the experience of the Great Depression, and it has been seen as their main role in times of financial distress ever since. 4 Thus, as regards central banks’ reaction in the early days of the crisis, what we saw was not them doing too much – it was them doing their job. For most, certainly for the SNB, they were doing what their mandates required them to do. Collectively, they helped stabilise economies and financial markets that were in danger of collapsing. Many challenges remain, to be sure, but avoiding a rerun of the 1930s does constitute a success. Supporting the weak recovery: unconventional monetary policy Once central banks had lowered nominal short-term interest rates all the way to zero, they hit a natural limit at which conventional monetary policy becomes powerless. Their decisive reaction, together with fiscal policy measures by governments, had succeeded in stopping the free-fall, but economies were still weak, unemployment rates high, and recoveries feeble. More action was clearly required. Conventional economic wisdom asserts that at the zero lower bound fiscal policy is the most effective lever on which to act. Unfortunately, most governments perceived themselves unable to do more for a variety of reasons.

Ladies and Gentlemen It is a continuing concern of all key stakeholders that provision of financial services in rural areas continues to be significantly lower than in urban areas. This has constrained the rural populace from access to savings products. This largely on account of poor infrastructure coupled with low literacy levels. As of June 2020, 39 out of the 116 districts in the country, did not have either bank branches or agents. It is from this backdrop that the Bank of Zambia, the Ministry of Finance and National Planning and the Ministry of Health, commenced an initiative to help accelerate rural financial inclusion in Districts by promoting the use of health facilities as general access  2/4  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  points for financial services. The General Access Point Inspection Report was presented during the dissemination workshop on 13 September 2022 and is available for detailed information. Ladies and Gentlemen The implementation of the National Strategy on Financial Education requires the united responsibility of the financial sector. This has been demonstrated by the Pensions and Insurance Authority, the Insurers Association of Zambia as well as Securities and Exchange Commission and the Capital Markets Association of Zambia who successfully launched the Insurance Week under the theme "Insurance-Solutions for a better tomorrow" and World Investor Week under the theme "Learn more about Investor resilience and sustainable finance" earlier this month. I am confident that the key messages disseminated during these events will contribute to raising the levels of financial literacy in the country.