memoranda of understanding on cooperation, coordination of exchange control policies in sadc, and cooperation in the area of information and communication technology. the ccbg has also contributed to the coordination of training for central bank officials in sadc and the creation of a training and development forum. the economies of our southern african region are closely intertwined. whilst it is evident that our countries experience differences in levels of gdp, inflation, employment or unemployment, exchange rate regimes, etc. we are nonetheless, one of the promising regions in our continent. most sadc countries experienced higher growth rates in real gdp in 2002. indications are that this continued in 2003. notwithstanding this improvement, the aggregate growth in the sadc region still falls below the 7 per cent as recommended by international financial institutions to impact positively on poverty. in 2002 angola, mozambique and tanzania reached commendable growth rates in excess of 6. 0 per cent. the average rate of inflation for the region slowed down from 2001 to 2002. figures for 2003 indicate that most sadc countries are making progress to achieving single digit inflation rates as proposed in the stage of implementation of the african monetary co - operation programme ( amcp ) for the period 2004 - 2008. a budget deficit / gdp ratio target of less than 5 per cent for the medium term ( 2004 - 2008 ) and a ratio of not exceeding 3 per cent by 2012 is proposed in the amcp. seven sadc countries recorded deficit / gdp ratios of 5 per cent or less in 2002. most sadc countries have made progress in implementing economic reform policies, resulting in moderate inflation rates and reduced levels of government deficit as percentage of gdp. however, the region still faces the challenge of generating higher rates of sustainable growth that will satisfy regional and global policy objectives of significant poverty and unemployment reduction and other aspects of social development. according to the imf world economic outlook, april 2004, economic activity in sub - saharan africa is expected to increase to 4. 25 per cent in 2004 and 5. 75 per cent in 2005. it is expected that various large - scale development projects in manufacturing and infrastructure in the region by south africa will provide economic stimulus to several countries. one of the projects is the expansion of the mozal aluminium plant in mozambique, construction of a gas export pipeline from mozambique to south africa and the inga dam project in the democratic republic of congo. achieving macro - economic stability and convergence in key macro - economic aggregates are important pre - requisites for the eventual achievement of monetary

everyone is talking about financial inclusion at the international level. it is a major agenda of development right across the globe with financial illiteracy as a serious hindrance to positive development. as far as the bank is concerned, we have another reason to pursue financial inclusion. this is to address and improve the transmission process of our monetary policy to the real economy. this relates to the process where any change we make to monetary policy through a signalling interest rate or other means, its effects should translate down to the real economy, through business houses, consumers, institutions etc. one of the major reasons bis central bankers ’ speeches for the transmission not working is because of the lack of financial services, due to fewer financial intermediaries and products. it is important for png as a developing nation to have this transmission mechanism working right down to the rural communities to eradicate financial exclusion. png is a member of apec and financial inclusion & financial literacy is one of apec ’ s key priorities, as demonstrated by the launch of the apec financial inclusion initiative in 2010. at the 2012 apec finance ministerial meeting, finance ministers of the apec economies recognized financial literacy to be an essential skill for everyone in the 21st century and an important component of any economy ’ s efforts that will effectively support economic and financial stability, inclusive development to improve individual and families wellbeing. the bank of png is in the forefront of promoting the financial inclusion agenda and is committed to several international initiatives such as the maya declaration and the money pacific advisory group goals. the money pacific goals emphasises the importance of financial education where all central banks in the pacific, including png signed up to ensure all children receive financial education through the core curriculum by 2020. the bank also made a commitment under the maya declaration in malaysia in 2013 to achieve several goals by 2015, one of which is to increase financial services access to one ( 1 ) million more of the currently unbanked population in png, of which 50 % of them will be women. i am pleased to announce that png is reaching around ½ million clients as i speak. at this juncture, i would like to reiterate governor bakani ’ s comments of wmbl spearheading the goal of reaching the 500, 000 unbanked women in png before end 2015. we only have 16 months to be able to achieve that target and we are confident that wmbl will provide further initiatives and services to achieve this goal. 3.