harvesh seegolam : implications of the covid - 19 pandemic for human resource professionals speech by mr harvesh seegolam, governor of the bank of mauritius, at the launch of the annual edition magazine and celebration of the 45th anniversary of the association of human resource professionals of mauritius and 9th anniversary of the african human resource confederation, balaclava, 17 december 2021. * * * the president and vice president of the association of human resource professionals of mauritius and the african human resource confederation members of the executive committee of the association and of the confederation distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen good evening. it gives me great pleasure to be with you tonight. i would like to thank the mauritius association of human resource professionals for inviting me to celebrate the association ’ s anniversary as well as that of the african human resource confederation. i understand that the 2021 edition of the magazine focuses on a very topical theme, namely, i quote : “ coronavirus pandemic has amplified the significance of human resource management. ” end of quote. the covid 19 pandemic has indeed had a very disruptive effect on the world as we knew it. it has impacted the economy, the social fabric, human interaction and our working environment and business methodologies. just two days ago, at the press conference following the monetary policy committee meeting, i underlined the unprecedented challenges that have stemmed from the onset of the covid - 19 pandemic since march 2020. these challenges prompted the bank of mauritius to swiftly introduce its covid - 19 support programme. it contained a series of both conventional and unconventional measures to support businesses, households and individuals financially impacted by the pandemic. another milestone solution was the establishment of the mauritius investment corporation ltd. through a bold array of measures, the bank of mauritius has contributed to salvaging the economy, saving jobs and shielding businesses, especially systemic corporates, against the economic backlash of the pandemic. just as i have underlined the economic imperatives, i can fathom from a human perspective how profoundly covid - 19 has affected the lives of people. at its core, the covid - 19 pandemic is a human crisis and i appreciate that this has caused human resource professionals to revisit all the fundamentals around which they had built their strategies. it is in that spirit that, since the outbreak of the pandemic, the bank of mauritius and its regulatees worked hand in hand to find the right strategies for maintaining

bank of japan presents its quarterly economic outlook for spring 1997 bank of japan, quarterly bulletin, may 1997 ( advance summary ). 1. japan ’ s economy continues on a recovery trend despite some fluctuations caused by the rise in the consumption tax rate, with private demand showing underlying firmness. among final demand items, public - sector investment has decreased, and housing investment has declined reflecting the reversal in the stepped - up demand which took place ahead of the rise in the consumption tax rate. however, net exports have continued on an increasing trend, and business fixed investment has been rising steadily. personal consumption is on a moderate recovery trend. meanwhile, inventories are generally at appropriate levels. in these circumstances, industrial production has been strengthening since autumn 1996. labor market conditions have been improving moderately on the whole. prices have stopped declining. domestic wholesale prices ( adjusted for seasonal electricity rates ) increased in early april 1997 reflecting the rise in the consumption tax rate. however, the downward pressures remain strong on those such as electrical machinery. despite these pressures, domestic wholesale prices have remained unchanged or have increased marginally. this reflects the yen ’ s depreciation and the higher oil prices to date, as well as the moderate improvement in domestic supply and demand conditions. the year - to - year declines in corporate service prices are narrowing, and consumer prices ( nationwide, excluding perishables ) are marginally above the previous year ’ s level. with respect to commercial land prices, prices of large and well - located land suited for major developments have stopped declining, while those of land less suited for use have continued to decline. as for residential land, prices have gradually stopped declining. on the balance of payments, the real trade surplus has been on an increasing trend, and the nominal current - account surplus has also increased, albeit very moderately. 2. in the financial markets, the overnight call rate ( uncollateralized ) rose temporarily around the fiscal year - end, but has since declined to the level slightly below the official discount rate of 0. 5 per cent. the 3 - month cd rate has continued at around 0. 50 - 0. 55 per cent except for the fiscal year - end. the long - term government bond yield has been declining since summer 1996, and has recently moved at a low level of 2. 1 - 2. 2 per cent. stock prices plummeted between the end of 1996 and the beginning of 1997, and have recently stayed at somewhat over ¥18, 000. on the