archbishop had been advised to be cautious with the scandal - mongering press. “ be discreet : be very discreet ; but with a smile ”. on arrival he was hijacked by a bevy of press men clamouring for a story. one reporter asked “ what do you think of the night clubs in new york? ” remembering to be discreet, with a smile, the archbishop ironically responded “ are there any night clubs in new york? ” headlines next day : archbishop ’ s first question on landing in new york “ are there any night clubs here? ” some people have continued to express dismay that we are not continuing to achieve the 5 % growth that they had come to feel was our birth - right. may i say, this is just unrealistic. it arises from a failure to understand the dynamics of economic growth. these dynamics change as you emerge from the developing to the developed stage. to move into the higher income bracket, escaping the middle - income trap is a long haul. it requires quite different capacities and is not done at the sprint of 5 % but more at the pace of a long - distance runner. it is good to remind ourselves − especially if we are inclined to agonise over the estimated 3. 4 % gdp growth rate this year − that 1 % on our national income now is far greater than 5 % bis central bankers ’ speeches was twenty years ago. why? simply because the national cake is much bigger! just the annual incremental output in 2012 – at an estimated nominal rs21 billion – is greater than the entire gdp of the country was as recently as 1987. “ growth at any cost ” has never been our credo. equitable growth, inclusive growth, sustainable growth is what we have been pursuing with, as even the most carping critic must concede, impressive results in terms of rising national income, a stable multi - ethnic society, and a democratic polity. our track record may not be perfect ; our present may be tense ; and our future may look conditional – that may in fact well serve as an apt diagnosis of our predicament at any point in our recent history. what we should avoid is the risk of blowing it all by pursuing an unrealistic agenda of higher growth by monetary fixes. instead of growing at a brisk sprint, galoping inflation is the more likely outcome if we rush down this route. we must adapt to the “ new normal ” of reduced growth in the western economies on whose

faster response, and greater flexibility in decisionmaking. new operating units were created to address new issues, such as financial stability and islamic finance, or to give sharper focus to specific work areas such as financial markets and compliance. banking supervision and regulation were strengthened ; the payments system was modernised allowing for cheque truncation and bulk clearing ; financial market infrastructure was spruced up with single - maturity auctions of treasuries ; financial literacy programmes were initiated. all these required strong emphasis on capacity - building and training, and continuous interaction with regional and global networks to keep up to the mark. above all, i have been steering affairs, guided by rabindranath tagore ’ s great prayer, bis central bankers ’ speeches give me the strength never to disown the poor, nor bend my knees before insolent might. we continue to prize our independence and we defend it in the best interests of the country. often we remind the most powerful in the land that our concerns extend not least to pensioners and those constrained to live off their savings ; for our task at the central bank extends to promoting a stable and growing economy for all. it is vital for the bank to respond to the interests of all sectors, not just the most powerful, the best - connected, or the most vociferous. now if paul getty ’ s formula for success was … rise early, work late and strike oil i have had to adapt that to the circumstances of mauritius where there is no black gold. not finding oil here, the bank has taken to buying gold ; we bought two metric tonnes of it from the imf in november 2009 for 2 billion rupees : that gold is now worth nearly 3½ billion rupees. the profit from this should pay for a few tower blocks or even a few new botanical gardens. and to ensure all mauritians have easy access to a similar deal, we now offer for sale to the public solid gold bars ; so do come by and make a mint while the stocks last. this offer comes during the course of our 45th anniversary year as the central bank in mauritius and we have had a series of international events in celebration. as a more lasting commemoration, we shall be issuing a souvenir book on central banking, the economy and mauritian society. riding the storm now, many theorists have speculated on the causes of the continuing international financial crisis − perhaps as many as those whose speculation promoted it! some here have