of zambia ’ s financial sector under the financial sector assessment programme ( fsap ). the result of this assessment raised awareness of various weaknesses in our financial system which needed to be addressed. for this purposes, the government approved the establishment of the financial sector development plan ( fsdp ) in 2004 to address these weaknesses and implement recommendations. one of the recommendations adopted was the need to modernise and harmonise financial sector legislation. this included the current bank of zambia act. 2. secondly under southern african development community ( sadc ), the sadc committee for central bank governors ( ccbg ) was tasked to develop harmonised encouraged by these two events, the bank of zambia embarked on a process of reforming and modernising its legislation. in doing so we relied heavily on the provisions of the model law but were mindful that these had to relate to our local circumstances. this exercise has resulted in a “ home grown ” draft bank of zambia act which is the subject of this workshop. we are pleased to report that the draft has incorporated principles of international best practice. some of the salient features of the act, as can be read in the consultative paper prepared for this workshop are : provisions to strengthen the legal basis, ownership and structure of bank of zambia as a modern central bank, as well as its primary objective ; provisions relating to adequate power and independence ; provisions relating to all aspects of the relationship between the bank and government structures ; institutional arrangements of the bank including the appointment of governors, directors and auditors, internal budgets, reporting requirements, preservation of confidentiality and handling of possible offences ; adequate mechanisms for good governance and security of tenure for governors ; measures to better manage and application of monetary policies, including the role of lender - of - last - resort, interest rate policies, exchange rate policies and bank of zambia ’ s involvement in money and foreign exchange markets ; creation of a monetary policy committee ; and accountability to government, parliament and the public. by tabling this draft act before you the stakeholders, the bank of zambia wants to maximise its consultative process by taking into account your views on this layman ’ s draft. we encourage constructive debate and assure you that your views will be taken into account before the draft is transmitted to our parent ministry, the ministry of finance and national planning. the ministry is responsible for initiating the legislative process that shall see this layman ’ s draft transformed into a bill and tabled before parliament for debate. therefore, i call upon all participants

mario draghi : statement at the thirtieth meeting of the imfc statement by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank at the thirtieth meeting of the imfc, washington, dc, 10 october 2014. * * * against the backdrop of an uneven global recovery, which is also influencing the shape and strength of the euro area upturn, the ecb has been determinedly pursuing its mandate of maintaining price stability over the medium term for the euro area. following four quarters of moderate expansion after two recessionary spells in the wake of first a global financial crisis and thereafter a euro area sovereign debt crisis, euro area real gdp growth remained unchanged between the first and the second quarter of this year. recent survey data, available up to september, confirm a weakening in the euro area ’ s growth momentum. looking ahead, the recovery is expected to resume, while remaining modest. domestic demand is projected to be supported by our monetary policy measures, the ongoing improvements in financial conditions, the absence of fiscal headwinds on account of past progress made in fiscal consolidation and a gradual payoff of structural reforms undertaken in euro area countries. economic activity in the euro area is also expected to benefit from a gradual strengthening of demand for its exports. however, unemployment in the euro area remains high and, overall, unused capacity is sizeable. moreover, the necessary balance sheet adjustments in the public and private sectors are likely to continue weighing on the pace of economic recovery for some time. the risks surrounding this economic outlook remain on the downside. the current weakening in economic momentum may postpone somewhat more the resumption in private investment, which is also negatively affected by heightened geopolitical risks. steadfast implementation of fiscal consolidation in a growth - friendly manner and determination in structural reform efforts should contribute to supporting business and consumer confidence going forward. this real economy picture, together with the continued subdued monetary and credit dynamics corroborates our expectation that inflation will remain low over the coming months before increasing gradually during 2015 and 2016. the risks to the inflation outlook will require close monitoring, which include possible repercussions of dampened growth dynamics, geopolitical as well as exchange rate developments, and the pass - through of our monetary policy measures. it deserves to be underlined that the downward trend in euro area hicp inflation, which started in late 2011, has to a large extent been driven by global factors, such as commodity and food price developments, until earlier this year