, without prior reference to the reserve bank. in the process, virtually all exchange controls on current account transactions in the balance of payments ( i. e. payments for goods and services ) were removed. the announcement made by the minister of finance last week extended the exchange control relaxation programme now also to foreign investments by private individuals. a basis has been established for a continuation of the gradual removal of the exchange controls through the periodic lifting of limits and other administrative measures over a wide front to cover the corporate sector, institutional investors and private individuals. there remains but the blocked assets of emigrants ( former south african residents ) that need to be addressed at some stage. 2. the relaxations announced last week the announcement of some further exchange control relaxations last week by the minister of finance was very important, not only for the substance of the relaxations but also for the clear policy direction indicated. this was the first major relaxation of the exchange controls announced by mr manuel since he became minister of finance in april 1996 and confirmed his endorsement of the policy of the gradual removal of the exchange controls. secondly, the minister himself regarded the announced relaxations as an important change in the underlying philosophy held by the government on exchange controls. in his budget speech the minister said : “ the package of exchange control reforms placed before this house today moves south africa to a system with a positive rather than a negative bias....... the objective is to reach a point where there is equality of treatment between non - residents and residents in relation to inflows and outflows of capital. ” the minister, in other words wants to indicate that south africa now has a free foreign exchange system with a number of temporary exceptions, instead of a controlled system with a few special concessions. the wide - ranging concessions now made give south african corporates more freedom to make direct investments outside of south africa, with some special dispensation for investments in other members of the southern africa development community ( sadc ) ; increase the scope for institutional investors to diversify part of their portfolios into foreign assets and for the first time enable south african private individuals to make foreign investments, either directly or through south african authorised dealers in foreign exchange. some of the details of these relaxations must still be worked out, but the minister indicated that all the relaxations announced will be implemented by 1 july 1997. 3. new options for the investor in the past, many south africans wanted to invest part of their savings outside of the country

christine lagarde : european parliament plenary debate on the ecb annual report speech by ms christine lagarde, president of the european central bank, at the plenary session of the european parliament, strasbourg, 26 february 2024. * * * as we approach the end of this legislative term, i wish to sincerely thank this parliament for collaborating in guiding europe through economic headwinds and geopolitical upheavals, always with the shared vision of bolstering prosperity and fortifying our resilience. building on this collaborative spirit, today's debate on your draft resolution on the ecb annual report is a pillar of the ongoing dialogue between our two institutions ; indeed, it is fundamental to the ecb's accountability which ensures the democratic legitimacy of our actions. let me start by outlining the current state of the euro area economy and our monetary policy stance. i will then focus on the need for a common european response to strengthen euro area resilience and competitiveness. bringing inflation back to target in a challenging economic and geopolitical environment the euro area has been facing significant headwinds from a series of sudden and consecutive shocks which pushed inflation very high in the wake of the post - pandemic recovery. having peaked at 10. 6 % in october 2022, inflation has since declined significantly thanks to the unwinding of energy shocks and various supply - side disruptions along with determined policy action. after expanding by 3. 4 % in 2022, euro area economic activity has been weak in 2023, with real gdp growth having stagnated in the final quarter. subdued demand for euro area exports – owing mainly to weaknesses in global trade and earlier losses in competitiveness – and tight financing conditions are weighing on growth. weakness in manufacturing activity has been extending to the services sector since the end of 2023. however, there are increasing signs of a bottoming - out and some forward - looking indicators point to a pick - up later this year. despite the sluggish economy, the labour market has remained resilient. unemployment stood at a historical low of 6. 4 % in december amid robust demand for labour, which is, however, showing some signs of weakening. inflation decreased slightly to 2. 8 % in january. energy prices declined by 6. 1 %, and food inflation, while still elevated, came down further to 5. 6 %, primarily reflecting a lower inflation rate for processed food. 1 / 5 bis - central bankers