, protection of human rights, promotion of “ good governance ”, and human development. their efforts are in danger of falling short, however, because their domestic savings rates are still too low to finance the volume of investments needed to boost their rate of growth from approximately 5 percent to over 7 percent, which is not an unrealistic objective ; it could be attained and sustained for a long time if local savings were supplemented by an appropriate mix of public and private foreign support and if a few key conditions were met, notably : • • continued modernization of the framework for private investment ; and improvement in public governance through the total commitment of new governing teams. together with the world bank and bilateral donors, we can make a difference. but a strong political impulsion by the world ’ s leaders and the example of their countries ’ cooperation to development will be of the essence. may their communique demonstrate their vision and leadership in this domain also. the stability of the international monetary system has been on the agenda for more than 20 years of annual summits. the asian crisis has highlighted how disruptive developments in exchange markets can help trigger a crisis. it is in this domain that efforts to strengthen multilateral surveillance over the international monetary system could be particularly fruitful. moreover, the development of the euro into a key international currency could make a major contribution to stability of the overall architecture, provided that close cooperation is established among the monetary authorities of the tripolar system that might take shape. even if it would be premature at this stage to try to elaborate further on how to maximize the positive effects of this major innovation, no doubt the new international monetary equilibrium will have to be kept under review as a key element of the new architecture. from the outset, effective means of coordination will have to be found to avoid excessive misalignments and disruptive corrections. the world is fully justified in expecting a responsible leadership from these major currencies blocs, which should be actively mindful of their global responsibility and resist the temptation of “ benign neglect ”. each of them. lastly, at a time when de facto more and more responsibilities are being given to the international financial institutions, and particularly to the imf, the question of their political accountability will probably be raised with increasing insistence. indeed, this question already arises from time to time, although not always with full awareness of the nature of our institutions and of the powerful checks and balances already enshrined in their articles of agreement. in this context, and

##dependent world will have a major influence on what the twenty - first century will be. this means that the solidity of our new architecture will crucially depend on the way in which, for the poorest countries, monetary and financial strategies, on the one hand, and poverty alleviation strategies, on the other hand, are made mutually reinforcing. poverty alleviation is chiefly, of course, the task of the world bank, the regional development banks and bilateral donors. among the latter, it is quite encouraging, indeed, to see the energy and enthusiasm with which the british minister for development - an mp from birmingham, as a matter of fact! - ms. clare short, is promoting the dac target of reducing by one half the proportion of the world ’ s population living in extreme poverty by 2015. 3 these objectives are ambitious, but they remain realistic, provided industrial countries join forces in stopping the present decline of development assistance and implement their agreed commitment to support, as needed, countries that truly own their national strategies for sustainable development. among the latter, i would agree that particular priority be given to post - conflict countries where we must join forces to give new chances to reconciliation, peace and development. obeying this same imperative of serving together peace and development, i would also suggest that the g - 7 / g - 8 warmly endorse mr. koffi annan ’ s recommendation to the african governments to reduce purchases of arms and munitions to 1½ percent of gdp and maintain zero growth on defense budgets for the next decade. industrial countries must play their full part in these efforts, and, here, i must share with you my anxiety. today ’ s silence on the crisis in official development assistance is profound and distressing. it means that africa, in particular, must rely chiefly for its economic progress on humanitarian compassion or the benefits of trade. this cannot suffice if human development is to be intensified and accelerated. yet, at the present juncture, the macroeconomic and structural successes of recent years, precisely in the context of imf - world bank supported programs, are creating an opportunity that is too good to miss. africa has found a way to advance from two decades of negative per capita growth to positive growth in more than forty of its countries. in i hope i am not revealing a state secret in telling you that she inscribed this on her christmas card! many african countries, a new generation of leaders is seriously concerned about the need for democratization