policy and strategy, recognising our commitment to transparent communication and active public engagement. let me provide an overview of the bou's work to set the stage for the open discussion. our mission is to ensure price stability and a healthy financial system supporting uganda's socio - economic transformation. it aligns with the national vision 2040 :'a transformed ugandan society from peasant to modern and prosperous country '. our central responsibility is to uphold and enhance the stability of the uganda shilling's value. we strive to protect the purchasing power of money, aiming for consistency in the prices, especially for non - food and non - energy commodities. when a rapid price increase is due to heightened demand for goods or services, we manage the money flow and borrowing costs, thus aligning demand with available goods and services to stabilise prices. price stability enables individuals to plan and sustain their living standards. this encourages savings and investment, hence economic growth. when this is spread to benefit the mwanainchi, socio - economic transformation ( a process in which an increasing proportion of economic output and employment are generated by sectors other than agriculture ) is generated. also, high inflation ( the rate at which prices change ) hurts people with low incomes more because they are less diversified in terms of assets. we oversee the licensing, regulation, and supervision of commercial banks, credit institutions, and micro - deposit - taking institutions. we ensure their safe operations, foster customer trust, and uphold ethical business standards. we aim to curb financial crimes, enforce consumer protection ( laws made to protect consumers from fraudulent business practices, defective products and dangerous goods and services ), and encourage fair treatment of customers by these institutions. the bou supervises the banking sector, ensuring that only adequately capitalised and professionally managed banks obtain and maintain operating licenses. our commitment lies in enhancing the management of financial institutions for accountability and mainly protecting the interests of depositors. in instances of failure, we prioritise safeguarding depositors'funds and the stability of other financial entities. the bou is responsible for ensuring the safety and stability of the country's payment systems, including the growing reliance on mobile money transactions. the surge in mobile money usage, which accelerated during the social distancing days of the covid - 19 pandemic, has expanded financial access to more people nationwide. however, we stress the importance of user caution due to associated risks like fraud and cyber ( computer - generated or crimes committed by cyber attackers

will reduce inequality, but what i would like to emphasize is that in low income and developing countries in general, the most important factor in reducing inequalities stays within the national authorities competencies. proper economic policies must be implemented in order to ensure inclusive economic growth, which generates the reduction of inequality. as it was very well underlined previously, households in romania borrow more than the inhabitants of peer countries. however, credit to low - income people does not come from banks, where they are not eligible. they resort to non - financial institutions instead, where looser credit standards come at the cost of higher interest rates. adequate economic policies will help increase the credit worthiness level of low - income citizens, which then can apply for sustainable loans. also, good economic policies means an increase in the quality and complexity of manufactured products within an inclusive economic growth. it means higher research and development expenditures that will determine an increase in the supply of medium and high tech goods. the global economy is still in a favorable position, albeit decelerating, while the uncertainty is rising. new opportunities, but also new risks and new challenges emerge, such as brexit, the trade and currency war, the cold war of technology, the debt crisis, money laundering, climate changes, higher inequality. all these aspects must be addressed as complementary to current policies. besides the discussions that took place here, related to the soundness of the financial sector and the need to have financial services widely accessible, i would like to underline two main points, in which i strongly believe. 2 / 4 the first one is that “ there is no financial inclusion without social inclusion ” as we look at the development indicators, we can notice, on the one hand, that significant quantitative progress have been achieved in reducing the worldwide poverty across countries. one the other hand, however, there are still important and rising differences related to the living standard, healthcare, education, sanitary conditions within the countries. inequality among the citizens affects their living standards, state of mind and the democracy itself. interest in social spending issues has risen globally over the last decade. the imf has voiced increased concerns about rising inequality, the need to support vulnerable groups, to address demographic, technological and climate developments. in their 2019 report, social spending is mentioned as a key policy in maintaining social and political stability. even companies seem to intend to change their strategy. after being accused of an obsession with short - term earnings while neglecting investment, depressing wages and