keynote address by ms caroline abel governor of the central bank of seychelles at the launch of the financial markets index 12 april 2018 venue : eden bleu hotel distinguished guests, ladies and gentleman, good afternoon. it is an honour and indeed, a great pleasure for me to be afforded the opportunity to address this forum, which is launching the barclays africa group financial markets index 2017. the development of financial markets is of the utmost importance for the development of the economy. i am not the first to make this statement, nor will i be the last. it is a fact that cannot be over - emphasised, as a stable and well developed financial market is a key part of the foundation for a healthy economy. the index that is being launched today, provides us with a good analysis of the state of affairs of the financial markets in africa. most importantly for seychelles, it provides us with a marker of where we are and the areas which we need to focus on in order to increase the level and efficiency of our financial market. out of the 17 african countries that feature in this index, seychelles has scored 22 out of a possible 100 across the pillars that were assessed, with an overall ranking of 16. the question we need to ask ourselves is this : how can we get the seychelles economy to mature and strive for continued improvement in our financial market? the indication of the way forward is clear. as per the analysis, we need to improve on the depth and breadth of our financial market, increase our access to foreign exchange and bring our regulatory environment on par with international norms. however, the challenge is to get on that path and stay the course. small economies like ours do not necessarily have big opportunities for trade in financial assets and what little opportunities we have, there is a lack of diversity of assets that are traded. nevertheless, our placement on the index is one that should spur us to move forward. with the recent developments in our financial sector, combined with our efforts in improving transparency and developing tighter and sounder regulations, i firmly believe that there is much hope for the development of the financial market in seychelles, which will allow us to contribute towards the greater development of not just our own economy, but also the economy of the african continent. one area that we are already working on is the development of the foreign exchange market. i anticipate that the 2 - day workshop currently underway on foreign exchange trading, being facilitated by barclays bank seychelles with the participation of the local banks and the central bank

mas worked long and hard behind the scenes, keeping our exchange rate strong, our banks safe, and the system sound. next, we thank our partners in government 10. mas could not have done it alone. if singapore government had run persistent budget deficits instead of chronic surpluses, outcome would have been very different. bis central bankers ’ speeches experience from around the world shows that biggest threat to monetary and financial stability is government that spends beyond its means. 11. a fellow central bank governor told me this story. he had gone to a country in africa to deliver a speech. this was a country ravaged by hyperinflation brought on by mounting fiscal deficits. his grateful hosts gave him a momento – a beautifully framed currency note denominated in ten million units of the local currency. ordinarily, he would decline such a gift, to save the trouble of having to declare it back home. but on this occasion, he asked for one more of the framed currency note and paid for it. on reaching home, he sent one of the framed currency notes to his colleague at the ministry of finance with a short note saying, “ please put this in a prominent part of your office as i have done. let it be a constant reminder to us both that if we do not do our jobs properly, this is what will happen to our country. ” 12. we at the mas thank our colleagues in the ministry of finance and the broader government. your fiscal rectitude has allowed us to concentrate on our mission of securing price stability. 13. mas is independent within the government, not of it. having a cabinet minister as the non - executive chairman of mas has insulated mas from political pressure. when mas was set up in 1971 and the then - minister for finance mr hon sui sen became its first chairman, the world bank was horrified. they said it was like asking the cat to look after the fish! the track record shows that the cat has been exceedingly well behaved. in last 40 years, government has consistently backed mas. never has the government pressured mas to : ease monetary policy ; or give a license to a bank that mas was not inclined to admit ; or refrain from taking action against a financial institution that did not behave. next, we thank our partners in the financial industry 14. managing risk is an exercise in partnership. mas will never know what all the risks are and where they are, as well as the institutions themselves. that is why the boards