the economy has been a subject of growing concern to us for quite some time. it has continued tumbling from nearly 30 per cent at its peak in 1992 to 26 per cent at the start of the millennium and now stands dangerously close to 12 per cent. the launch of the platinum coin gives me thus an opportunity to kick - start our “ saving for a better future ” programme which, we hope, will help foster a better culture of savings for our population. we think our dodo has too easy a time, just sitting there in the logo of the bank. we plan to press - gang our dear, daft, and defunct dodo into service to advance this cause of saving. hopefully, domestic savings will do what the dodo never did – that is fly off the danger zone. do not be surprised therefore if piggy - banks in our part of the world will never look the same again! i thank you again for your presence at this launch ceremony. thank you very much for your attention and i look forward to some active sales this evening.

therefore means that we also have an interest in ensuring that card payments work safely and efficiently. the popularity of cards is that such a means of payment is perceived as being convenient. people who prefer cards attribute it to the fact that they do not like to walk around with cash. there is also a generational aspect to the choice of means of payment. an increasing number of young persons feel a greater sense of security when using cards than the older age groups and are more than willing to use their cards to make small payments. it goes without saying that the use of cards exposes stakeholders to risks - but how do we manage these risks while respecting competition and innovation? this calls for collaboration of all those concerned. it is the combination of measures, together with the rigour with which they are implemented and administered, that will serve to reduce risks most effectively – there is no single security measure or set of measures that can be said to provide a guarantee of complete protection. we, at the bank of mauritius, require banks to have robust internal control systems, with appropriate oversight by their board of directors, to ensure that their systems are not used by bis central bankers ’ speeches fraudsters for illicit purposes. indeed, in today ’ s it - enabled banking environment, it has to be recognised that fraud possibilities have assumed international dimensions. it is therefore not only essential to set up a safe platform, but also to ensure that the so - called “ safety ” is continuously benchmarked against international standards. with respect to cards, there are 3 issues relating to information security that assume immense importance, namely confidentiality, integrity and availability at all the relevant stages of entry, storage, and transaction. the threats which bother every one of us in this context are multifold, and range from password hacking, card copying / cloning to data and identity theft at various levels of transaction, information storage as well as transmission stage. allow me to digress a bit here to underscore the importance of proper screening of staff at all levels, as frauds are very often perpetrated by employees themselves. indeed, financial institutions are not only exposed to outside threats, but they are now faced with a new threat, inside violations. today ’ s employees are able to easily export sensitive files and information via email or by copying data to portable media. it is imperative that financial institutions have control over their sensitive information, how it is used, and who obtains it. the real challenge in this environment goes beyond merely providing additional technology