. against this background, the latest macroeconomic projections of the banco de espana, published on 24 september, foresee a moderation in the spanish economy ’ s growth rate over the next two years, in response to the loss of momentum of domestic demand, which has already begun to be observed, in the latest period, and which has affected both private consumption and private investment. as i have mentioned already, this behaviour appears to have been fundamentally influenced by the deterioration in the external environment, as well as by the uncertainty regarding the future outlook. in any event, under the baseline scenario, which assumes that export markets will gradually recover ( following their recent weakness ) and that budgetary policy will acquire a neutral stance over the projection horizon, the accommodative stance of monetary policy and the improvement in the financial position of firms and households over the last few years, should allow the economy to continue to grow at slightly above its potential rate ( which according to our estimates is somewhat less than 1. 5 % ). however, as in the euro area, this baseline scenario for economic activity is subject to significant downside risks. in fact, the projected recovery in world trade and activity could be hampered by factors such as the possible adoption of further protectionist measures, the worsening of geopolitical tensions and the high level of indebtedness of certain agents in particular regions of the world. a source of further uncertainty, which has still to be clarified and has been highly unpredictable, is the process of the united kingdom ’ s departure from the european union and the subsequent negotiation of the future uk / eu trading relationship. lastly, we cannot rule out that the uncertainty surrounding the future course of some domestic economic policies ( such as budgetary policy and the structural reform agenda ), arising from the difficulty in recent years of forming solid parliamentary majorities, or the recent events in catalonia, may also, if they persist, have an adverse effect on the spending decisions of private agents. transformations and vulnerabilities of the spanish economy in this context, the spanish economy, despite the improvements made during the recovery, continues to suffer from significant vulnerabilities. progress in correcting these is urgently required, in order to enhance the economy ’ s resilience to possible adverse shocks. in fact, some positive elements stand out from the evolution of the spanish economy in recent years, such as, for example, the ability to continue to run external surpluses during the upswing, something that was not normal

for this new generation of banknotes has been an intricate process, involving many role players. on this note, on behalf of the board, staff of the bank of namibia and indeed my own behalf, i would like to thank the president and the cabinet for the endorsement of the new generation of the namibia dollar banknotes. furthermore, we would like to express our gratitude to the minister of finance for her guidance and support during this process. special thanks also go to my predecessor, mr tom alweendo, who started this project, just before he left. i am grateful to my colleagues at bank of namibia who worked hard on this project to ensure that we have well secured banknotes which compare with the best in the world, notes that we are proud of. director of ceremonies your excellency our notes do not only contain state of the art security features, but they also honour namibian heroes. kaptain hendrik witbooi will forever remain one of our martyrs, a hero who fought fearlessly against the occupation of our mother land. the battles he fought, for example in the naukluft mountains on 27 august 1894 and subsequent battles in the auab valley, were not ordinary, but acts of bravery. kaptain hendrik witbooi died on 29 october 1905 near koes after he was wounded in the battle near fahlgras. your excellency, according to history, these were his last words “ it is enough now, the children shall have peace ”. ladies and gentlemen, my fellow namibians, let ’ s treasure the peace we are currently enjoying for this was bought with blood. your excellency, sir, we are celebrating and praising our heroes and their heroic deeds. inspired by our forefathers, dr. sam nujoma, with his compatriots, carried the struggle forward. this too, director of ceremonies, was a long and bitter struggle. they sacrificed their youth years and many rivers of blood were crossed. their efforts paid off, on 21 march 1990, namibia became a republic. dr. nujoma became our founding president and father of our newly born nation, a unique position in the history of our country which no else will ever occupy. in his inaugural address on that day, the founding president also paid homage to all fallen heroes and heroines, who sacrificed their lives for the total emancipation of the namibian people. he said : “ in accepting the sacred responsibility which the namibian people have placed