, we should also be wary of the downside risks that they can bring. threats of unscrupulous agents exploiting loopholes, mis - selling and other legal risks are just some of these. i am sure that you need no further convincing about the place that financial literacy should occupy in our lives. its benefits extend well beyond stronger household balance sheets. indeed, financial literacy contributesto the promotion of a more resilient financial system and, ultimately, to the more efficient allocation of resources within the real economy. however, the launch of a financial literacy strategy is not, on its own, a sufficient condition for diffusion among the population. collaboration and support at all levels of the banking industry remain the prerequisites for an optimal implementation. to muster additional resources to support the implementation of its financial literacy initiatives, the bank has been strengthening its relationships with other central banks as well as with leading international financial organisations and financial literacy promotion entities. the bank is currently benefitting from the support of the bank for international settlements to craft a strategic plan on data protection. in addition, with a view to widening the scope of its consumer education strategy and reaching out to the greater number, the bank is participating to an initiative driven by the gsbf, the groupe des superviseurs bancaires francophones. i am also pleased to share that the bank of mauritius is a proud and active member of the finconet, the international financial consumer protection organisation. to further our efforts, i have personally ensured that the bank joined, no later than last year, the oecd international network on financial education. i am pleased to announce that the bank of mauritius will participate to this year ’ s edition of the global money week, an initiative spearheaded by the oecd / infe, and which will take place from the 21st to the 27th of march next. we have even engaged with the oecd / infe to be the national coordinator for the roll out of the global money week initiatives in mauritius. ladies and gentlemen, as i come to end of my address, i wish to express our gratitude to ms flore - anne messy for 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches being with us today as keynote speaker. i also thank our prime stakeholders, specifically the mauritius bankers association and its members, for their valuable contribution in terms of views and input in crafting this programme and supporting its roll out. i rely on your cooperation to make the strategy a success. on our side, you

sought to live up to the trust placed in me to lead the bank of mauritius. governors have a very tough job in a crisis - ridden world. they are constantly the subject of public scrutiny. they are the butt of jokes, the target of criticism, the object of much invective, with their fitness – occasionally their very sanity – being publicly questioned. they walk a tight rope most of the time. they need to take bold and timely decisions that make them unpopular. if they shirk such decisions, they court disaster. it is a case of “ damned if they do, and damned if they don ’ t ”. yet, they have to remain resolute, determined to do whatever their bis central bankers ’ speeches job entails. if they are unlucky, they are terminated, with their gubernatorial life being – if i can borrow some words from hobbes – “ nasty, brutish and short. ” i have a long list of “ thank you ’ s ” tonight. i could have kept it short and said simply : i thank my parents for making it possible – and family, friends, and colleagues for making it necessary. but that won ’ t do, will it? so, please bear with me for a few more minutes. let me call a few to take a bow. zbigniew pelczynski, emeritus fellow of pembroke college, the politics tutor, i shared with bill clinton. john lucas, fellow of the british academy, emeritus fellow of merton college, my tutor in philosophy. vijay joshi, senior research fellow of st john ’ s college, emeritus fellow of merton, and my tutor in economics after john black left merton to take a chair in exeter university. i thank them for the guidance and advice that they gave me, a young country bumpkin, and helped to make me the man i am today. i am extremely grateful to them. i would have wished to mention each and every teacher, family member, friend and collaborator by name for their contribution – i can assure you i am not lost for words when it comes to gratitude – but time constraints and your patience prevent me from doing that. i thank my mother, my wife of 40 years, my son and my daughter for the sacrifices they have silently endured, while i was away from home – which was most of the time, since even when i was there physically, i was not really there – i am your proverbial absentee parent – absorbed by my other