pressures or even the growing challenge of climate change. inflation remains a major policy concern for central banks globally. although global inflation declined from 8. 7 % in 2022 to 6. 8 % in 2023 and continues to ease in 20242, it remains high relative to the 2 – 3 % inflation targets that many countries are trying to achieve. restrictive monetary policy, along with the recovery in supply chains and other pandemic - related bottlenecks, has helped inflation to recede from its 2022 highs. 1 recorded by the copernicus climate change service ( c3s ) data. 2 forecasts from the international monetary fund ( imf ) world economic outlook ( weo ) updates, january 2024 and april 2024. page 2 of 11 however, global disinflation has slowed recently, as is well illustrated by consumer price inflation in the united states ( us ) still sitting at 3 % relative to their 2 % target. the slow pace of disinflation reflects a pattern of lower imported inflation but higher services inflation across most economies. in some, rising wages and sustained pentup demand for services have been key factors. 3 in emerging markets specifically, fiscal challenges and sustained currency depreciations have played more of a role. policy commitment to reduce inflation back to targets has been strongly signalled around the globe, and central banks have generally been cautious in their approach to policy. deepening geo - economic fragmentation, higher temperatures and other supply - related risks raise concerns about the long - term prospects for inflation, and considerable effort is going into reassessments of neutral real rate levels. while inflation remains higher than desired, global economic activity has proven to be more resilient than expected. global growth surprised higher at 3. 3 % in 2023, despite considerable divergence in growth across individual economies. generally, however, global growth rates are expected to remain below pre - pandemic trends. this reflects the impact of protectionist measures on global trade, relatively tight financial conditions as well as uncertainty of future policy trajectories. greater stability in global affairs and more sustainable fiscal policy settings across the g20 countries would help to dampen uncertainty and enable longer - term horizons for policymakers, firms and households. while lowering debt levels weigh on growth in the short term, the longer - term effects of falling borrowing costs act to improve growth prospects, supporting private investment and freeing up fiscal space. lower inflation would also open monetary policy space and support easier

, with five more in progress. four new insurers, being three life and one non - life, were registered, with a further 11 applications in progress, six of which are life insurers. two cooperative financial institutions were also registered, with a further two in progress. the pa and the financial surveillance department are driving the sarb ’ s efforts to get south africa off the fatf grey list. fatf has identified 22 action items that south africa must address to improve its anti - money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism ( aml / cft ) regime. currently, eight of the 22 items have been addressed or largely addressed, and 14 remain in progress. south africa is left with two reporting cycles, in september 2024 and january 2025, in terms of the action plan. although foreign counterparties have been applying greater scrutiny to our domestic institutions as a result of the fatf greylisting, the pa has found no immediate negative impact on correspondent banking relationships. it is nevertheless imperative that the action items are addressed timeously to avoid long - term negative effects on the economy. operational matters page 7 of 11 moving to operational matters : during the year under review, the sarb saw the overhaul of its balance sheet with the introduction of new arrangements governing the gold and foreign exchange contingency reserve account ( gfecra ). announced in february 2024, the new gfecra framework will allow government to access a portion of these funds to reduce debt issuance, while providing the sarb with a stronger capital position. in june, these arrangements were passed into law with the gazetting of the gold and foreign exchange contingency reserve account defrayal amendment act. this was accompanied by the signing of the gfecra settlement agreement between the sarb and the minister of finance. the agreement ensures that, among other conditions, the sarb ’ s solvency is not undermined by any gfecra profits distribution. these distributions will be used to reduce government borrowing. there will be no sales of foreign exchange reserves if such reserves are below estimated adequacy levels. as of 1 july, r100 billion had been transferred to the sarb, and roughly threequarters of the r100 billion due to national treasury this year has already been paid out. we expect to complete the transfers by mid - august. the sarb is the custodian of south africa ’ s national payment system. in the past, payment