interplay of factors, an important one being good governance and accountability of a government to its citizens, full participation by the citizens in the political life of their countries, as well as sustainable economic growth and development. it is from a sound economic base, the optimum economic climate, that we can then progress to take our place among the leaders of the twenty - first century. firstly, we should contain our general government deficits to not exceed more than 3 per cent of gross domestic product. south africa has had mixed success against this criteria. the relatively high budget deficits and high government expenditure during the late 1980s to the early 1990s were largely the consequence of bad economic management based on multiple financing of apartheid programmes. i am happy to say that the budget deficit fell below 3 per cent of gdp after the 1997 / 1998 fiscal year. this was achieved through a combination of budgeting in accordance with the country's most pressing needs, strict expenditure control and improved tax collection. with a budget deficit of below 3 per cent, south africa's finances compare favourably with internationally acceptable levels and we could easily become member of the e. u. secondly, general government ’ s gross debt should be kept to less than 60 percent of gdp. south africa ’ s debt levels have in recent years stayed firmly below this level. gross debt above this level is deemed by the maastricht treaty participants as the level beyond which fiscal health is at risk. thirdly, countries should aim for flexible relatively stable exchange rates. and fourthly, price stability is key to attracting investment and boosting economic performance. the south african reserve bank embraced the ethos of price stability when we adopted an inflation targeting framework at the beginning of the year 2000. under this framework the south african reserve bank aims to contain the consumer price index less mortgage costs ( cpix ) measure of inflation, to between 6 and 3 percent by 2002. in this way we should achieve a significant measure of price stability. over the last 10 years, inflation has come down steadily from the double - digit figures of the 1980s and the early 1990s. according to the latest figures cpix is at 6, 7 percent for april. inflation has proved sticky over the past year or so mainly because of high international oil prices. 5. conclusion by containing inflation and by ensuring that price stability prevails, the reserve bank contributes towards creating an environment in which individuals, households and businesses can thrive. the views of serious economists have changed markedly over the past 50 or

, the number of pupils enrolling in primary schools has been on an upward slope. south africa ’ s life expectancy at birth has also increased from 58 years in 1982 to 65 years in 1997. infant mortality has dropped from 6, 3 per cent in 1982 to 4, 8 per cent in 1997. but south africa, and indeed africa, needs to boost its savings rates. africa ’ s savings amounted to 27, 1 percent of gdp during 1975 to 1984, but for the 1990s the world bank ’ s 2000 report estimates the level at 17, 6 percent. south africa ’ s savings amounted to 15 percent of gdp last year. you, as an organisation pride yourself on teaching your members the values of thrift and prudence. i would ask you to go one step further. as you educate your members about the importance of savings, without which the economy cannot reach prolonged high growth rates, educate them to be educators for the wider community. we have a dearth of economic literacy on this continent and we need resourceful people like yourselves to become well - versed in basic economic principles and make this knowledge available to the communities you serve. 4. the pre - requisites for the success of the african renaissance so, where do we go from here? i have already mentioned some of the challenges we face. these are surmountable. however, there are certain pre - requisites we, as a continent and a country, should aim to achieve before we can claim any success along the road of the african renaissance and its broader goals. after meeting with sub - saharan african leaders earlier this year, horst kohler, the international monetary fund ’ s managing director, mentioned that the prospects for rapid growth, which he argued was indispensable for reducing poverty, will and i quote : " depend on the ability of those countries to unlock the creative energies of their people. african leaders, " he said, " know that there is no alternative to integration into the global economy. this approach requires investment in human capital and infrastructure as well as the right economic policies and institutions. it requires, especially, an economic climate that encourages private sector investment. " the collective efforts brought together for the fulfilment of the millennium african renaissance programme should unlock the creative energies of the african people, it should give africa ’ s leadership a new focus and it should encourage unwavering efforts to eradicate poverty, and bring about democracy and good governance. i suspect that sustainable development rests on a complex