- making and communication. as a result of these discussions, we have decided on the following : 1. from 2024, the board will meet eight times a year, rather than 11 times as is currently the case. four of the meetings will be on the first tuesday of february, may, august and november. the other four meetings will be held midway between these meetings. the exact dates for 2024 will be published soon and the dates for future years will be published well in advance. 2. the board meetings will be longer than is currently the case. they will typically start on the monday afternoon and then continue on the tuesday morning. the outcome of the meeting will be announced at 2. 30 pm on the second day, typically a tuesday as is the case now. 3. all board members will have the opportunity to attend an internal staff meeting some time before the board meeting. this will allow them to hear directly from, and ask questions of, a broader range of staff. 4. the post - meeting statement announcing the decision will be issued by the board, not, as is currently the case, the governor. 5. the governor will hold a media conference after each board meeting to explain the decision. the media conference is expected to be held at 3. 30 pm. 6. the quarterly statement on monetary policy will be released at the same time as the outcome of the board meeting ( in february, may, august and november ), rather than on the following friday as is currently the case. given this and other changes, we are reviewing the structure of this document. 7. the board, rather than just the governor, will be the signatory to the statement on the conduct of monetary policy, which is the document that records the common understanding on monetary policy between the rba and the australian government. the new statement is expected to be finalised later this year. 8. the board will oversee the bank's research agenda as it relates to monetary policy and aspects of financial stability. 9. the bank will continue with its current approach to climate change analysis, focusing on the implications of climate change for the economy, inflation and the financial system. 10. the board will work with the treasury to undertake five - yearly open and transparent reviews of the monetary policy framework. together, these changes are significant and represent a substantial response to the recommendations of the review. the less frequent and longer meetings will provide more time for the board to examine issues in detail and to have deeper discussions on monetary

central bank of kenya international money transfer and cross border payment conference ( imtc ) crowne plaza hotel, nairobi remarks by dr. patrick njoroge governor of the central bank of kenya september 21, 2017 as prepared for delivery good morning, ladies and gentlemen! it is a great pleasure for me to join you at this conference. let me begin by thanking the conference organizers for the invitation, and for giving me the opportunity to interact with the distinguished participants. we feel particularly privileged to host this inaugural imtc africa conference in nairobi. it is equally significant for the east african region, which increasingly is viewed as an attractive destination for business and investments. this conference therefore provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on the important topics of remittances and crossborder payments, the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. the beginnings of our banking system is intertwined with remittances and cross border payments. the first bank in kenya was established in 1896, to facilitate sending money home by indian workers that were building the railway through kenya, and also to support trade in the europe - south africa - india axis. a lot has changed since then. a hundred years ago, remittances depended on the movement of a written instruction over sea and land. it could take months and the transaction faced many perils. today, transfers are virtually instantaneous and current protocols ensure certainty of the transfer. customers ’ interest in a secure and inexpensive remittance channel remain unchanged. the importance of cross border payments cannot be overemphasized. remittance flows to developing countries amounted to us $ 429 billion in 2016, more than twice the amount of foreign aid that these countries received, and have become an important source of foreign exchange. 1 similarly, remittance to sub - saharan africa ( ssa ) amounted to us $ 33 billion in 2016. these remittances are a critical source of income for many households and provide a highly beneficial insurance function. innovations in digital financial services have been transforming the remittance industry. for kenya, prior to 2013 when money remittance regulations were issued, remittance flows were largely through informal channels as banks were deemed prohibitively expensive. since then domestic money transfer products such as m - pesa have evolved to become convenient and reliable platforms which with the expansion of mobile phone technology are now available to large segments of the population. for instance, kenya has a mobile phone penetration rate of 89 percent compared to the sub - sahara africa average of 43