willem duisenberg : hearing before the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament hearing before the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament with dr willem f duisenberg, president of the european central bank, held in brussels, 5 march 2001. * * * introductory statement it is my pleasure to continue today our regular exchange of views on monetary policy and other activities of the ecb and the eurosystem. as usual, i shall first present the ecb's analysis on recent economic developments and its assessment of the prospects in the euro area, focusing on how to foster the continuation of non - inflationary growth in the euro area. then, i shall report to you on several important decisions taken by the governing council of the ecb with regard to the introduction of euro banknotes and coins. before beginning my speech, i should once again like to take this opportunity to welcome the newest member of the euro area. by adopting the single currency on 1 january 2001, greece has become the twelfth member of the euro area, sharing the rights and obligations of the other member states which have already adopted the single currency. 1. economic and monetary developments since the last hearing before this committee on 23 november 2000 the governing council of the ecb has decided to keep the ecb's main interest rates unchanged. this was because, overall, recent developments have pointed towards more balanced risks to price stability than the ones prevailing at the time of our last meeting. however, some factors still argue for caution. allow me to comment in more detail on the governing council's assessment of the current economic situation in the euro area. i should like to start with the first pillar of the monetary policy strategy of the ecb. on 14 december 2000, the governing council decided to confirm the existing reference value for monetary growth, namely an annual growth rate of 4 1 / 2 % for the broad monetary aggregate m3. this decision was taken on the grounds that the evidence continues to support the assumptions underlying the derivation of the first reference value in december 1998 ( and confirmed in december 1999 ), namely those for trend potential output growth and the trend decline in m3 income velocity in the euro area. turning to recent monetary developments, there were already indications in november 2000 that a moderation in monetary growth had been under way for some months. in late 2000 and early 2001, these signs of moderation became stronger. according to the latest available data, the three - month average of the annual growth rates of m3

mohamed s fofana : sierra leone stock exchange – developing the country ’ s financial sector opening remarks by mohamed s fofana, deputy governor of the bank of sierra leone and chairman of the stock exchange technical committee, at the inauguration ceremony of the sierra leone interim stock exchange, freetown, 27 july 2007. * * * your excellency, the president honourable vice president my lord chief justice your excellencies, members of the diplomatic corp hon minister of finance other cabinet ministers mr governor mr secretary to the president and other senior civil servants heads of financial institutions colleague setc members distinguished members of the private sector ladies and gentlemen it is my singular privilege and honour to chair this occasion. i must confess that i only agreed to perform this function under pressure from my colleagues of the stock exchange technical committee, who insisted that as chair of that committee, i am under obligation to chair this ceremony. my personal inclination was that some more distinguished personality than myself should assume this role. it is not common that such a galaxy of distinguished personalities would converge on the bank. when this happens, it is a clear indication that something out of the ordinary is in the offing, as is clearly the case today. your excellency, the inauguration of the sierra leone stock exchange, which you are about to perform, is a unique occasion in every sense. not only is this the first such institution to be established in this country, but it also constitutes the first major visible sign of the formal commencement of organised capital market operations in sierra leone. this is a landmark in our financial history as we take a crucial step towards the further extension and deepening of our financial sector, which up till now largely consists of a money market. while this occasion is significant in its own right, i would like to stress that it is part of a process, rather than an event. from this perspective, it is simply the outcome of all the planning that has taken place in the context of deliberations in the stock exchange technical committee, work done by the capital market unit of the bank, and the inputs of local and foreign consultants, especially for the preparation of legal documents for the establishment of the capital market in general, and the stock exchange in particular. sensitisation of various parties, including our parliament, the press, representatives of the business community and the university has been undertaken, and will continue on a wider scale. consultations have been held with some institutions in the public and private sectors to forge operational links in further