energy items and focus on the so - called “ core ” cpi, inflation has been running not much above 2 percent, the lowest rate in more than three decades. and a broader measure of prices, the gdp price index, has increased only one percent over the past year, held down by rapid declines in the prices businesses pay for computers and communication equipment. this inflation performance has been better than most analysts had expected. but we should not exaggerate the extent of the surprise. true, most economists believe that the current unemployment rate of 4½ percent is below the level consistent with stable inflation, and indeed may already be exerting upward pressure on labor costs. but almost all sensible economists have long realized that unemployment is not the only influence on inflation. as i have emphasized, the strong dollar has led to falling prices for our imports, and low oil prices have led to low prices for gasoline and other energy products. low oil prices also have helped hold down prices for petroleum - derived products like fertilizers and plastics, and they have reduced price pressures more generally by reducing firms ’ utility and transportation costs. furthermore, structural changes in the health care system have reduced the growth of firms ’ health care costs. these factors have all contributed to our benign inflation performance. we will need to be vigilant because, just as these factors have worked to the benefit of low inflation recently, any or all of them may turn around and exert upward pressure on inflation in the future. changes in the labor market one of the complexities in the inflation outlook involves changes that appear to be occurring in labor market practices. the extraordinary rise in labor demand and the accompanying tight labor markets have led to labor shortages in some parts of the country. shortages have been reported for a variety of jobs, with the supply of computer professionals especially tight. to some extent, firms have been responding to these labor shortages by raising wages. and indeed, compensation increases have been growing in size for the past two to three years. but firms also have responded to tight labor markets in ways other than simply granting larger base wage increases. firms have been making increasing use of various forms of targeted pay, such as hiring and retention bonuses, as a way to attract and retain certain key employees without granting a general wage increase. these targeted bonuses seem to be most prevalent for information processing workers, but i sense that they are reasonably widespread beyond that area as well. and these bonuses are often quite sizable. it is not uncommon to hear of hiring

daniel mminele : south african national payment system framework and strategy document – vision 2015 opening remarks by mr daniel mminele, deputy governor of the south african reserve bank, on the occasion of the launch of the south african national payment system framework and strategy document – vision 2015, pretoria, 12 september 2011. * * * good day ladies and gentlemen. thank you for accepting our invitation to the launch of the south african national payment system framework and strategy document – vision 2015. the mandate of the south african reserve bank ’ s national payment system department ( npsd ) to oversee the payment system, emanates from the enabling legislation which is the south african reserve bank act, 1989 ( act no. 90 of 1989 – sarb act ). section 10 ( 1 ) ( c ) of the sarb act makes provision for the bank to perform such functions, implement such rules and procedures and, in general, take such steps as may be necessary to establish, conduct, monitor, regulate and supervise payment, clearing or settlement systems. during 1995 the bank published its first south african national payment system framework and strategy document – vision 2005. the vision 2005 document spanned a 10 - year period and contained strategies to modernise the south african national payment system ( nps ) and to align the domestic nps developments with international best practice. with the achievement of the major milestones and objectives envisaged in this document, a process was embarked upon to re - evaluate the nps vision, which process culminated in the strategy document published in april 2006, referred to as vision 2010. the vision 2010 focused, inter alia, on access for bank and non - bank participants, oversight of the nps, enhanced security and operational resilience in the nps, regional and international participation in payment system development, as well as increasing awareness of the features nps. the key strategic objectives outlined in the vision 2010 document have similarly been implemented and achieved. in late 2009 and early 2010, the npsd embarked on an extensive consultation and factfinding process to determine any new challenges facing the nps, and to establish if refinements to the strategic direction of the nps were required. payment systems are by nature dynamic and fast changing, and various challenges emerged nationally and internationally. it was decided that due to the demands and challenges facing the nps, a refinement of the strategic direction was required. the purpose of this framework is to provide a high - level updated strategic direction for the payment system up