other major global currencies, while in the fixed income, again the us will continue to offer one of the highest interest rates in the developed world. for example, us 2 - year treasury yields are the most attractive among the g10 economies, a situation highly unusual and unprecedented since the turn of this century. the main driver behind this is us economic policy, which – if you allow me to use a catch phrase – may be described as follows : “ fed up, with tariffs ”, plus of course the drop in tax rates. in the eurozone financial markets, the normalisation of ecb ’ s monetary policy remains the main driver of the still fragmented euro area government bond market. the core euro area countries form a rather homogeneous group ; the europeriphery, by contrast, is less homogeneous. the diversity is due to recent developments in italy, headed by a fragile, populist coalition government. indeed, as a result of the latest political turmoil over immigration and the budget debate, the italian 10 - year yield has reached 3 % and remains in this area since august. other peripheral countries such as spain and portugal remain resilient and contagion remains limited. italy is not greece. it is too big to ignore, as the eurozone ’ s third largest economy and the world ’ s third largest, after the us and japan, sovereign debt market with total public debt of more than €2. 3 trillion, of which more than 36 % is held by foreigners, and the political uncertainty could generate severe spillover effects to the global sovereign markets. there is a nightmare scenario which i do not share, of which markets are of course aware and already factor it in. this political tit - for - tat between the populist government of italy and brussels may escalate into a genuine 3 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches diplomatic war ( for some people, what is at stake here is the next italian prime minister ) and this would lead to a downgrade of italy ’ s credit rating ( currently at bbb ), and a potential loss of its investment grade, which would force the ecb not to accept italian bonds as collateral for the provision of liquidity and to stop buying italian government bonds under its pspp. taking into account that qe ends next december, borrowing costs in some euro area countries could surge to more than 5 %, near 2013 levels. the worry then would be that this could perhaps trigger the next eurozone crisis : a

caleb m fundanga : the bank of zambia ’ s management development programme for managers remarks by dr caleb m fundanga, governor of the bank of zambia, at the opening of the management development programme for managers, livingstone, 4 - 15 december 2006. * * * • director – human resources • assistant director – organisation development • the consultants • participants • ladies and gentlemen i welcome you all to this management development programme. management development programmes are crucial not only to staff development but also to the realisation of the bank of zambia vision. as you are aware, our vision is “ to be a world class central bank ”. our vision can only be realised if the performance of our employees measures up to world class standards, because it is employees who make an institution what it is. in other words, we can not have a world class central bank without world class employees. ladies and gentlemen : i would like to refer you to our strategic plan document. you will note that in its values statement, the bank states that employees of the bank of zambia shall at all times endeavor to direct their efforts towards the achievement of the mission of the bank by consistently following the values encapsulated in the boz way. you will also note that the bank has, in turn, undertaken to support employees by, inter - alia, continuously enhancing the capacity of the bank through the development of all staff. this reflects the realisation by the bank that without world - class employees, its aspiration to be a world class central bank as stated in its vision statement cannot be attained. for the bank therefore, this programme is important because it is a step taken towards enhancing the skills of our staff to world class standards and is a commitment to attaining our vision. the programme you have come to participate in is unique in two respects. first, this programme is tailor - made or specifically designed for bank of zambia staff. second, it focuses on middle management which is a reflection of the importance that the bank places on the role that its middle managers play in helping it achieve its vision and mission. the programme has been designed to impart general management knowledge and skills to you our middle managers which will enhance your leadership and managerial abilities. the programme is designed to provide you with the tools that will enable you to contribute effectively towards the management of the bank and also to prepare you for succession as and when opportunities arise. the first module you will learn is on the functions of the board of the bank of zambia. this was included to