hermann remsperger : the evolution of inflation measurement : a central banker's view address by professor hermann remsperger, member of the directorate of the deutsche bundesbank, at the symposium “ hedonic methods in price statistics ” held in wiesbaden, 21 june 2001. * * * i five years ago, the boskin commission reminded us that inflation measurement is anything but simple. although experts had known many of the problems for quite a long time, it took the boskin report to reawaken public awareness. this forced statistical offices – and, of course, also central banks – to sit up and take note of the situation in their countries. the boskin report prompted the bundesbank, too, to devote more attention again to the problems of inflation measurement. in the mid - sixties, the bundesbank submitted a report to the federal fiscal court in which the following opinion was reached : “ in general, it should not be considered a reduction in the value of money if the cost - of - living index rises by, say, 1 per cent per annum ; and an annual increase of between 1 and 2 per cent in the index can be regarded as indicating a deterioration in the value of money only with certain reservations. ” in the bundesbank ’ s annual derivation of its monetary target, this factor was reflected in a medium - term price assumption of 1½ to 2 % per year. in 1998, our research group arrived at the conclusion that the range of uncertainty in measuring inflation in western germany is clearly below 1 per cent. there were hardly any thorough empirical studies on that topic for germany at that time. and not very much has changed in the meantime. yet this is exactly the reason why problems with measuring german prices will remain on our research agenda. we certainly do not wish to take the easy way out by doctoring inflation figures downward, nor do we wish to overstate germany ’ s real economic performance. instead, it is our duty to run reality checks on statistical methods, and to analyse their implications for economic policy in general and their importance for monetary policy in particular. this work is also important for the calculation of real aggregates in the national accounts. in our may 2001 monthly report, we presented the results of a new study on this topic. it shows how real growth would have developed in the second half of the nineties if us methods of calculating the national accounts had been applied in germany. the quantitative outcome of hedonic

denny h kalyalya : broadening financial services provision opening remarks by dr denny h kalyalya, deputy governor - operations of the bank of zambia ; at the opening of the pilot financial inclusion advisors ( fia ) programme, lusaka, 6 april 2009. * * * chairperson the deputy minister of finance and national planning, ms chileshe kapwepwe, mp dr mahaela smith, co - founder and ceo, the commonwealth partnership for technology management ( cptm ) deputy governor – central bank of swaziland distinguished resource persons and representatives from bank negara malaysia regional central bank representatives distinguished participants ladies and gentlemen on behalf of the bank of zambia and indeed on my own behalf, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this pilot financial inclusion advisers programme and to zambia for our colleagues from other countries. before going any further, please allow me to convey the governor ’ s regret for not being able to be with us. he is attending to another important assignment, the aerc senior policy seminar on the global financial crisis and its implications for african economies, also here in lusaka. nonetheless, he extends his welcome and good wishes for a successful programme. this important conference has brought together practitioners and regulators of microfinance institutions from different countries to share experiences. i also note that participants have been drawn from central banks in the region, the public sector, commercial banks, microfinance institution and other non - bank financial institutions. chairperson : the bank of zambia, in conjunction with the bank negara malaysia ( the central bank of malaysia ) is pleased and greatly honoured to co - host this pilot financial inclusion advisers conference. we have no doubt that this conference will provide the necessary impetus to advance the frontiers of financial services provision to our people in the region. ladies and gentlemen : the genesis for this important forum goes back to the langkawi international dialogue, in 2007 at which the governor of the central bank of malaysia proposed this initiative. the purpose was to bring together practitioners and regulators of microfinance to learn from each other on how to deepen and broaden financial services provision. the proposal was concretized at the global southern africa international dialogue under the cptm smart partnership movement, held here in lusaka, in august 2008 following an agreement between the bank of zambia and bank negara malaysia to conduct the first financial inclusion advisers programme in zambia. distinguished guests and participants : as you may know, the debate on financial inclusion has been going on for some time now.