. ladies and gentlemen, in line with “ goal 8 ” of the millennium development goals on “ environmental sustainability ”, we are all expected to work together and reverse the losses of environmental resources. i am glad to report that the financial sector has taken the bold step and has become one of, if not the first, to contribute positively towards achieving this goal. in this regard i would like to call upon other corporate entities and business houses in lusaka and other cities around the country to emulate the efforts of the financial sector and help keep zambia a beautiful, clean and healthy place to live in. i must hasten to mention here that, by undertaking such initiatives, we are in no way trying to take over the responsibility of the local authorities but merely supplementing their efforts of keeping the country clean and healthy. hon minister, allow me to make an earnest appeal to the local authorities through “ his worship the mayor ” to assist in the maintenance of the islands by providing security to minimize the rampant vandalism, theft and destruction of plants and other essentials that occur on a daily basis. we also make a humble request to the lusaka city council to consider working on the water reticulation system, as this is one area posing a great challenge in the maintenance of the islands. furthermore, there are still a number of places, which require urgent attention in the city. your worship, we have observed that a number of incomplete buildings have been abandoned posing a danger to the lives of many while others remain without a colour wash for years giving an unattractive sight to our beloved capital city. we would like to request your good office, “ your worship ” to issue mandatory directives to all business houses in the country to complete construction sites within a stipulated period and to ensure that all buildings are properly maintained and where necessary repainted on a regular basis. in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, i wish to commend the bankers association of zambia and in particular the project committee for the effective and efficient manner in which this initiative has been implemented thus far. my hope is that the initiative will not only be confined to cairo road but to all areas of the country. finally, i would like to urge all of us present here today to extend this initiative to our homes. let us keep our homes, communities and the country clean as cleanliness is next to godliness. i thank you.

and in 2014, but as of the spring of 2014 we saw another slowdown in growth and were at risk of running into a third recession. in january 2015, ecb president mario draghi announced that the ecb would pursue a policy of quantitative easing : we now print money and pump it into the economy in order to help ease credit conditions. were it not for the monetary policy of recent years, we would certainly have landed in a deep recession. the euro area might have fallen apart and that would have been a catastrophe. the ecb therefore did what it had to do, but monetary policy cannot resolve all problems. we have always said that politicians have to do their job. they must carry out structural reforms, reduce government debt and create a more flexible labour market. that would contribute to a smoothly functioning economy. owing to ecb policy, interest rates are extremely low, there ’ s no longer any return on savings. so people are tempted to take more risks with their money, by buying shares or real estate for example. this pushes up prices and may give rise to bubbles that suddenly burst, resulting in serious financial disasters. is that a real danger? absolutely, that is an important point. the ecb ’ s policy undoubtedly has unintended consequences. in some countries, there is a risk that real estate prices or some equity and other financial markets are increasing in a way that is too rapid or artificial. we are keeping a close watch on that and interventions to avoid bubbles are possible if need be. the emergence of bubbles is a justified concern. but if the ecb were not pursuing its current policy, the financial concerns would be even more serious because the economy would be in poorer shape. when and how are we going to move back towards normal interest rate levels? what needs to happen before the ecb will start to discontinue its exceptional policy? bis central bankers ’ speeches the ecb will continue pursuing its policy for as long as necessary. what needs to change before we adjust the policy? to put it simply : the rate of inflation needs to move sustainably towards 2 %. looking at the current economic situation, i think that the present policy will continue until at least 2017 and for longer if necessary. what if ecb policy ultimately doesn ’ t work as in japan? will you propose “ more of the same ”? or is there a plan b? there is no plan b, there is only one plan. the ecb stands ready to take all measures