and domestic institutional capacity. these professions contribute to both the moral and legal frameworks that maintain and uphold ethics and standards, while forming an important line of defence in upholding good governance in both the public and private sector. the auditing profession contributes to a credible and thriving business environment, while acting as the custodians of international standards for professional conduct. lastly, the comfort that investors get from the auditing professions, promotes investment and thus ultimately economic growth and therefor makes a difference to people ’ s standards of living and hence their quality of life. i wish to conclude my talk this morning, by quoting former president, nelson mandela, when he said “ there is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living ”. i hope we all would continuously strive towards a life that is nothing less than the one we are capable of. more importantly, i hope that we would all take hands and work tirelessly to create a future for our country that is reflective, not only of the rich endowments we enjoy as a country, but a future that is reflective of our true and full potential as a nation. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches

, although protectionism appears to be an attractive policy response against a backdrop of low growth and a structural current account deficit, it should be approached with a degree of circumspection as an important lesson to be taken from economic history is that the period that followed the great depression was marked by an outbreak of protectionist trade policies. these policies led to a sharp contraction in global trade in the 1930 ’ s, beyond the economic collapse itself, and a lacklustre rebound in trade despite the eventual worldwide economic recovery. 2 it is also worth acknowledging that trade protectionism often fails to adequately address the underlying challenges of competitiveness, or the lack thereof, within an economy and it may even lead to a decline in the degree of competiveness as its could lead to higher input costs and hence contribute to price inflation. lastly, it is unlikely to restore external balance if external demand is weak. the international monetary fund ( imf ) has developed sustainable growth indicators which focus on policy, democracy, and governance as the drivers of growth. the policy component encapsulates economic policies, while the governance component relates to accountability. this approach by the imf enables a link between economic growth and the role of the south african reserve bank ( the bank ) and bodies, such as the institute of internal auditors, in fulfilling their respective mandates. the contribution by the bank enhances institutional capacity in the economy as it serves the south african society through maintaining price and financial stability in the interest of eichengreen, b and irving, d. a ( 2009 ) “ the slide to protectionism in the great depression : who succumbed and why? ” nber working paper no. 15142. bis central bankers ’ speeches balanced and sustainable growth. in the policy sphere, it conducts monetary policy to contain price inflation. in doing this, the bank assists in maintaining and improving competitiveness, protecting the purchasing power of the currency and, thus the living standards of all south africans. furthermore, this provides a favourable environment for employment creation through balanced growth. in addition, the bank also has the mandate to oversee and maintain financial stability which is a distinct and separate policy objective from price stability. we can feel very proud that south africa was ranked first out of 144 countries ranked in the global competitive index report for our strength of our auditing standards and reporting, second for accountability and third for the efficacy of our corporate boards. this is meaningful as the internal and external auditing profession forms an integral part of the international