regional integration and capacity development – as you are aware, the common market for eastern and southern africa ( comesa ) regional integration process is progressing well. milestones achieved so far include the establishment of the comesa monetary institute, currently hosted here at the kenya school of monetary studies in recognition of capacity building as one of the key pillars necessary for achieving successful integration. partner central banks have identified the need to revise the frameworks governing hr policies and strategies in line with international best practice. the call for the establishment of an integrated framework for a holistic approach to capacity building among central banks in comesa is therefore a pertinent one. implementation of such an approach will enable regional banks to realize greater economies of scale by taking advantage of regional institutional and human resources. capacity building must, therefore, take a unified approach, with regional central banks coming together to pool resources and take advantage of regional diversity to achieve greater efficiency in organizational performance. 2. performance management and talent development – traditionally, central banks have had a multi - generational workforce with the older segment forming the majority of the workforce. hr managers are therefore faced with the challenge of balancing the demands of the older workforce with that of the younger workforce using recognized management principles. the younger workforce comes ready to take up responsibilities at a lesser age and experience, but with high bargaining power due to their knowledge and skills at hand and techno - savvyness. a clear shift is thus bis central bankers ’ speeches seen in terms of organizational career commitment to individualized career management. managing this set of people is essential for the growth of any industry but especially for central banks where the composition of the workforce is rapidly changing. the challenge therefore is on the need to develop individuals who have performance potential on the basis of past record and knowledge - based expertise while at the same time tapping into the expertise of the younger generation without compromising staff morale. furthermore, the hired for life mentality of the past is fast becoming obsolete as workers increasingly change employers. hr must therefore place emphasis on proper work - life balance, while at the same time motivating staff through continuous learning opportunities and positive feedback. 3. managing change – organizations are getting more and more technologically oriented. the banking sector particularly, has undergone revolutionary changes enabled by technology. in the central bank of kenya, for example, a number of technological innovations have been implemented. the success of these interventions is no doubt heavily dependent on managing the people issues surrounding the process. in order to realize acceptance at all

liquidity buffers. taking cognizance of the existential threat of climate change and working together with our development partners including the international monetary fund and the european investment bank, we have embarked on our vision of greening the banking sector. towards this end we have issued the draft kenya green finance taxonomy ( kgft ) for public consultation. the kgft will serve as a reference for kenya's transition to being a green economy. on the payments system front, kenya has continued to be a global leader in digital financial services with an elaborate ecosystem. this has greatly expanded access to financial services in kenya from 26 percent in 2006 to 83 percent in 2021. the kenyan economy has also become more cash lite due to the advent of mobile money payments, with currency in circulation as percentage of gdp standing at 2. 1 percent in 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches 2023, way below other countries. in the past year have licensed additional payment service providers ( psps ) and digital credit providers ( dcps ) to provide additional choice and access to kenyans. on cross border payments, the cbk continues to support the east african payments system ( eaps ) and the pan - african payments and settlement system ( papss ). accordingly, cbk signed an agreement with afreximbank to enable kenyan financial institutions to join papss, which will enable them to participate in the continental payment system to spur intra - africa trade. overall, the various measures i have highlighted tonight have contributed significantly to restoring macroeconomic stability. overall inflation rate eased to cbk's target of 5. 0 percent in april 2024 compared to 8. 0 percent in may 2023. this is the lowest overall inflation since october 2020, 43 months ago. in addition, the shilling has appreciated by 17 % against the u. s. dollar since the beginning of 2024, making it the best performing currency globally, against major currencies. the appreciation has led to huge savings in debt service and reduced debt stock in kenya shillings - our shilling denominated debt declined by around 6 percent of gdp within a period of weeks. as i conclude, cbk will continue to build on these gains and reforms to safeguard macroeconomic and financial stability and support the government's economic growth objective. with improved investor confidence and sustained macro - stability, we expect the economy to remain strong in 2024, with growth projected at about 5. 7 percent, supported by agriculture, resili