the appellants of twice 30, 000 euro ( or twice 207 euro per share ) which was payable to the national bank and the belgium government respectively. the judgement concluded a series of legal disputes instituted against the national bank / belgium government by two groups of shareholders, representing a small minority of shareholders in the national bank. ladies and gentlemen, responsible shareholders help entrench and enhance the bank ’ s independence. they support its public interest mission. they see in a private shareholding in the bank first and foremost an opportunity to interact with the bank and gain a deeper insight into the economy. they recognise this is not a get rich quick scheme. diversity of stakeholders remains a key intention of the reserve bank, of the government, and of all serious shareholders. in fact, the most - recent amendments to the sarb act have significantly broadened and strengthened our diversity and our ability to act without fear, favour, or undue influence from any quarter, whether at home or abroad. your responsible exercise of your rights and duties as shareholders make a significant contribution to the diversity and independence necessary for us to fulfil our mandate. with this contribution you help build the enormous goodwill and trust the bank enjoys from across a wide spectrum of communities in the country. in so doing, you help build the south african economy and you contribute to nation building. allow me to express my appreciation for your contribution and to ask that you continue to bis central bankers ’ speeches support the very important work of the south african reserve bank, particularly at this very crucial time in history. to the best of my knowledge, all business included in the agenda of today ’ s meeting has been transacted. i wish to thank president zuma and the presidency, the government and parliament for their continued support. the sound working relationship between the bank and the national treasury has continued, and i thank finance minister pravin gordhan, deputy minister nhlanhla nene and the staff of the national treasury for their ongoing support. we also thank mr lesetja kganyago as the former director general, and are confident that the strong ties between the bank and the national treasury will continue to bear fruit as we build on the firm foundations already in place. we look forward to our continued sound working with the new director general, mr lungisa fuzile, and wish him well. sincere thanks are also due to the members of the board for ensuring appropriate corporate governance in the bank. we pay particular tribute to the three

the banking systems in a number of the afflicted economies has had a major impact on the global banking sector. not even financial institutions in the major industrial countries have been immune to this problem. the near - collapse of the long term capital management fund in new york towards the end of september 1998, provided a stern warning to the world that the east asian crisis had indeed become a worldwide financial problem. quick action by the american federal reserve and the major new york banks prevented serious problems for other financial institutions, including many multinational banking institutions with similar over - leveraged positions. 3. policy reactions to the global financial crisis the initial “ fire - fighting ” reactions of countries in the midst of the crisis obviously differed from country to country. led by initiatives from the imf, however, a relatively standard policy procedure was adopted that required of countries, firstly, to adjust important macroeconomic fundamentals to new levels as dictated by market forces ; secondly, to restore some stability to financial markets, and thirdly, to introduce structural and other remedial adjustments that will regain the confidence of international investors. in the process, the countries directly afflicted by the crisis had to accept : * a sharp depreciation in the external value of their currencies ; * a substantial tightening of liquidity conditions in domestic financial markets ; * a tightening in fiscal policy, mainly through significant reductions in government expenditure. in some countries, inflation also increased to higher levels and necessitated even more restrictive monetary policies. these developments obviously depressed real economic growth, and led to increased unemployment in the affected economies. it is estimated, for example, that the rate of economic growth in the asean countries ( indonesia, malaysia, philippines and thailand ) changed from positive growth of more than 7 per cent in 1996, to negative “ growth ” of more than 10 per cent in 1998. in the case of two important countries also afflicted by the crisis, a different approach was followed with macroeconomic policies to address the problem. in the case of malaysia, the government preferred a route of self - protection by the reintroduction of exchange controls on international capital flows. the wisdom of this policy was severely criticised at the time, but history will eventually provide a final verdict on the issue. there is general belief, however, that international investors will in future be much more reluctant to invest again in malaysia than, for example, in the other east asian countries that were more prepared to bite the bullet with extremely painful and costly macroeconomic adjustment processes.