emmanuel tumusiime - mutebile : endorsing price stability and financial sector soundness in the ugandan economy remarks by mr emmanuel tumusiime - mutebile, governor of the bank of uganda, at the official opening of the standard chartered bank, bugolobi village mall branch, bugolobi, 12 february 2016. * * * members of the board of directors of standard chartered bank uganda, chief executive officer, regional head, retail banking for africa and middle east, senior management and staff of standard chartered bank, invited guests, ladies and gentlemen. it is an honour to be invited to officiate as guest of honour at the official opening of this new branch of standard chartered bank at the village mall in bugolobi. the wisdom behind the opening of a new stanchart branch in bugolobi is self - evident. this prime location and its immediate neighbourhood, is not only home this outstanding mall, but also hosts a number of small and medium sized enterprises. here you find a university, government departments, industrial establishments, a market, health service providers, major retailers, schools, hotels, restaurants ; not to mention the large number of residents. the bustling local economy here will thank you for bringing banking services closer. the opening of this new bank branch is a very strong endorsement of the stability of uganda ’ s financial sector. it indicates that the prospects for the sector as well as the economy as a whole remain good. indeed, only last month, standard and poor ’ s ratings services affirmed its “ b / b ” long and short term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on the republic of uganda ; with a stable outlook. i am reminded of the words of alan greenspan – a former head of the central bank of the united states of america – who described “ price stability ”, in the perspective of central bankers as, “ when economic agents no longer take account of the prospective change in the general price level in their economic decision - making ”. as you are aware, in their latest press release, the uganda bureau of statistics reported that both annual and monthly inflation declined from december 2015 to january 2016. on an annual basis, overall inflation declined to 7. 6 percent in january 2016 from 8. 4 percent in the previous month. over the same period, core inflation reduced to 7. 1 percent from 7. 6 percent. similarly, overall monthly inflation declined to 0. 1 percent in january from 0. 2 percent previously. what is more

globe, for example between the united states and china, in an ever more interconnected financial landscape. economists understood the broad problem, but somehow failed to draw or contemplate the correct conclusions, despite our knowledge of previous episodes of financial collapse. however, the charge against the economics profession also has merit in that ultimately these global imbalances gave rise to or produced perverse economic incentives in financial markets which existing models did not or could not contemplate. this was compounded by a lack of regulatory oversight of key sectors of the financial market. but let me return now to the question of africa and the global financial and economic crisis. how does africa respond to the real prospect of lower growth than is necessary to reduce poverty on a sustainable basis? i believe that africa needs to retain open economies, expand regional markets and integration ; and expand the reach and benefits of the market economy. zambia has been an active and founder member of the southern african development community ( sadc ) as well as the common market for eastern and southern africa ( comesa ). through these bodies zambia is looking to leverage its own potential through projects such as the north - south corridor under comesa, which seeks to open up efficient transport routes for the flow of goods, service, and people, from the south to the north of africa. further, under sadc zambia is looking to develop its vast hydro - electric power potential, estimated at around 6, 000mw, as well as transmission infrastructure to enable zambia to supply countries in the east african community which face severe power deficits. zambia already trades power within the sadc region, through the southern african power pool ( sapp ). in the mining sector, zambia is already seeing investment in value addition to raw materials being driven by the opportunities available in regional markets as close as the democratic republic of congo ( drc ) and as far away as egypt. how does africa respond to the loss of fiscal space that has robbed the government of critical resources needed to build their economies by investing in human capital and physical infrastructure projects such as roads, irrigation schemes, and power plants? first of all it is important to recognize the extraordinary response of the international community, especially through the g20 group of countries, in mobilizing resources to address both the liquidity needs of financial markets and the fiscal challenges faced by governments. a significant amount of this support has been channeled through the multilateral financial institutions such as the imf, world bank, and the various regional development banks