, can help to create a crisis is an important lesson to keep in mind when we eventually close the books on this crisis. i am aware that my wish list is long and requires extensive reform work. however, the course of events over the past year has clearly underscored the need to quickly deal with these issues. meanwhile, it is important to make clear that we must not become overly zealous about regulation. in times such as these it is easy for opportunism to gain the upper hand, resulting in measures that do more harm than good. the riksbank supports the eu commission's motto of “ better regulation ” and that all regulation changes must be preceded by objective and extensive impact assessments and cost - benefit analyses. concluding remarks let me now summarise. the financial turmoil that began in the united states over one year ago has now spread around the world with full force. strong distrust currently prevails in the markets, which in one way or another essentially afflicts all financial institutions. for swedish banks this trend is mainly expressed by the fact that they are forced to borrow on much shorter terms than usual and at higher rates. in brief, although we are not responsible for the current situation we are certainly feeling its repercussions. both the riksbank and finansinspektionen still hold the opinion that the major swedish banks have strong capital buffers, robust earnings and low loan losses. consequently, conditions are good for handling the current uncertainties as well as for dealing with unexpected future losses in the economic downturn we see ahead of us. thank you!

how the crisis will play out. the fog of uncertainty casts a pall over global growth prospects. whatever happens, we must remain agile and alert to ride the slightest favourable wave even as the european and us economies flounder in its wake. this scene is all the more curious for the west does not lack advice on such matters. as george burns has remarked : “ it ’ s just a pity that those who really know how to run the country are just too busy driving taxi - cabs or cutting hair. ” bis central bankers ’ speeches so let me add my two - pennyworth to the great debate on the financial and economic crisis and how well we have fared. i believe it was talleyrand, napoleon ’ s aristocratic minister of foreign affairs, who on being asked what he did during the revolution, gave a pithy reply : “ i survived. ” and we have survived, too, with scarcely an african country falling into recession, no banks going bust, and the african economy on the up and up. in mauritius we have certainly done better this year than in the previous two years. in africa, the impact of the crisis was felt mainly through the trade channel and the falloff of fdi flows. this was exacerbated by loose monetary policy in some countries where, not surprisingly, double - digit inflation was back in 2011. your bank was under constant pressure to loosen our monetary policy, to depreciate the currency just a little, to accept a little more inflation, allegedly to save jobs and stimulate growth. let me ask you this. do you really think we were wrong to resist those siren calls? would you really really have preferred inflation in the high twenties to finish off the year? mauritius fared well among middle - income countries, with gdp growth above 4 % this year, or slightly below the trend rate of the pre - crisis decades. we reinforced our regional and international positions in a number of global rankings which i would have happily walked you through, but for the pressure of time. we are, of course, not insulated from the problems affecting the rest of the world and inflationary pressures have increased ; but, with well - timed monetary steps, we have succeeded in containing inflation to an expected 5. 1 % in 2011. let ’ s keep on course, steady as she goes. now let me turn to our economic prospects and our high aspirations we are living in troubled and testing times. several questions arise. will we be agile enough