mr duisenberg reports on the outcome of the latest meeting of the ecb governing council introductory statement by the president of the european central bank, dr w f duisenberg at the press conference held in frankfurt on 6 may 1999. ladies and gentlemen, the vice - president and i are here today to report on the outcome of today ’ s meeting of the governing council of the ecb. the governing council reviewed, as usual, the main monetary, financial and other economic indicators in line with its monetary policy strategy. following this discussion it decided to keep the ecb ’ s interest rates unchanged. the interest rate on the main refinancing operations will thus remain 2. 5 %. in addition, the interest rate on the marginal lending facility will continue to be 3. 5 % and that on the deposit facility will remain 1. 5 %. let me give you some details about our latest assessment of the monetary policy stance and thereby provide explanations for the decisions taken today. overall, monetary developments and our broadly based assessment of future price developments do not signal dangers to price stability over the short and medium term. with regard to monetary developments in the euro area, in march 1999 the 12 - month rate of growth of m3 remained constant at 5. 1 %. while the pace of increase in overnight deposits reduced further, signalling the waning influence of the uncertainties surrounding the launch of the euro, deposits with an agreed maturity of up to two years grew at a stronger pace in march than in february 1999. the latest figure for the three - month moving average of m3 growth, covering the first quarter of 1999, was 5. 2 %. this was 0. 2 percentage point higher than in the previous three - month period, covering the period december 1998 to february 1999. the governing council also noted that the annual rate of growth of total credit was broadly stable at 7. 5 % in march 1999. in line with the assessment it had made on the occasion of its previous meetings, the governing council took the view that recent monetary trends should not be seen as a warning signal with regard to the future evolution of inflation. as we have emphasised in the past, the monetary data in early 1999 may be affected by the special circumstances related to the changeover to stage three of emu. in addition, the three - month moving average of m3 growth remains relatively close to the reference value of 4½ %. as regards financial indicators, i should like to stress that recent developments in bond yields in the

yandraduth googoolye : shaping the new banking landscape defining the priorities and leveraging new technology to propel the mauritian financial system forward speech by mr yandraduth googoolye, governor of the bank of mauritius, at the annual dinner for major economic stakeholders, hosted by the bank of mauritius, flic en flac, 29 november 2019. * * * your excellencies former governor d. maraye chairman of the mauritius bankers association limited chairmen and chief executives distinguished guests members of the press ladies and gentlemen it is an honour for me to welcome you tonight to this customary annual event of the bank of mauritius. this year, i will depart from the way i made my speech last year. i will not go over the bank ’ s achievements, as these have been amply reported in the media. for those who want to refresh their minds, they may wish to visit the website of the bank. our accomplishments will also feature prominently in the bank ’ s annual report which will be released shortly. we shall send you an electronic copy of the report once it is released. i am pretty sure you are looking forward to hear my message tonight. please feel free to share with me directly your comments and criticisms later. this space is too often filled by the media. it would be good, for a change, to hear about what stakeholders think. ladies and gentlemen, let me start with a statement that will be the weft of my discourse : ‘ much is happening and much will happen! ’ a look at what is happening in the world reminds me of charles dickens, whom i quote from his book ‘ a tale of two cities ’ : i quote : ‘ it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity ’. end of quote. you will agree with me that it befits our times, especially in the light of conflicting messages that we get all the time from all sides … high inflation is worrying ; too low an inflation is upsetting! excess liquidity is dangerous, but lack of liquidity is as troubling ; the exchange rate is never favourable, whether for exporters or for importers ; the policy rate, when it is high, is not helping businesses and borrowers and, when it is low, it goes against those who want to save