##la. almost all of foreign currency excess liquidity would be reckoned towards balanced held for the maintenance of the lcr. we conducted a survey among banks as to why they were keeping rupee excess balances and the results showed that a sizeable part was being held by them voluntarily as a precaution. these balances have been estimated between rs4 - 6 billion, depending on circumstances. therefore, the analysis of rupee excess reserves should exclude these balances. and currently, we estimate that the true rupee excess liquidity in the system would be around rs2 billion, which is more or less manageable. in the coming weeks, we foresee rupee excess reserves to go down. the bank has recently been focusing on the 91 - day bill yield as its short - term operating target. the 91 - day bill yield, which is market - determined, can be viewed as an appropriate measure of the efficiency of the bank ’ s operations. the bank has successfully been able to manage liquidity by sustaining the level of the 91 - day bill, since march 2018, at a level consistent with its monetary 3 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches policy stance. the relative stability of the 91 - day bill also reflects on the rupee excess liquidity situation. if there would have been a higher level of excess liquidity, the yield on the 91 - day bill would have dropped. however, as mentioned earlier, the 91 - day bill yield has been evolving around the key repo rate. our conduct of monetary operations entails costs, which have a bearing of the operations of the bank. the correction of the interest rate disconnect together with the increase in the bank ’ s issue of its own securities have cost the bank rs2. 4 billion in 2017 / 2018 compared to rs1. 9 billion in 2016 / 2017 and rs1. 4 billion in 2015 / 2016. but, you will appreciate that the cost of monetary policy is nothing compared to the benefits that monetary policy imparts. the rise in the short - term money market rates has widened the spread vis - a - vis savings deposit rates. for instance, the weighted average yield on bills accepted at primary auctions has increased from 1. 78 per cent in november 2017 to 2. 91 per cent in february 2018 and further to 3. 60 per cent in october 2018. while over this period, the weighted average savings deposit rate has been around 1. 7 per cent. that ’ s why i have been

r basant roi : introduction of government securities at the stock exchange of mauritius address by mr r basant roi, governor of the bank of mauritius, at the official launching ceremony for introduction of government securities at the stock exchange of mauritius, port louis, 12 december 2003. * * * ladies and gentlemen good afternoon it is a great pleasure to address you this afternoon on the occasion of the official launching ceremony for the introduction of government securities at the stock exchange of mauritius. it is a greater pleasure still to see that government securities have finally found their way to the stock exchange after several timid attempts made in the past. indeed the bank of mauritius has been striving for more than a decade to develop a secondary market for government papers. in november 1992 when the bank started with the weekly auctioning of treasury bills a strategy for the development of a secondary market was devised. it remained a paperstrategy and did not find its way through. in february 1994, the bank made a second attempt. a secondary market cell was set up in - house with a view to kicking - off, with some determination, the development of a secondary market for government papers. this in - house cell was initially expected to play a market - making role. commercial banks did not respond positively to the initiative. the market did not take off. brokers were eventually invited as participants to play a decisive role in the endeavour. the then strategy of the bank was not well received. it was not appealing to brokers. as a result of miscarriages, the in - house secondary market cell laboured in routine operations. in december 1998, the bank of mauritius started with the sale of treasury bills over - the - counter to individuals and non - financial corporations. one of the important objectives of this initiative was to let individuals from all strata of the population familiarize themselves with treasury bills as an investment instrument. this initiative triggered competition for deposit resources in the banking industry. individual investors derived some experience with treasury bills as an investment instrument. the sale of bills over - the - counter by the bank was a success. investment in the bills reached a peak of over rs4 billion. some 11, 000 individuals and financial corporations invested in the bills. pursuing its objective to eventually take government papers for trading on the stock exchange of mauritius, the bank of mauritius established, effective 1 february 2002, a primary dealer system. at the weekly auctions for treasury bills four banks, the mauritius commercial bank ltd., state bank of mauritius