rundheersing bheenick : developing banking technology in mauritius remarks by mr rundheersing bheenick, governor of the bank of mauritius, at the launch of the “ new business on line ” project by standard bank, port louis, 20 may 2009. * * * good evening, ladies and gentlemen it is my pleasure to be here at this product presentation as you prepare to roll out the “ new business on line ” project in mauritius. you operate in a very competitive environment and it is quite appropriate that you should always be on the lookout to extract every inch of competitive advantage that you can from having a state - of - the - art technology platform and thus strive to stay ahead of the field. how i wish i could say as much for my own institution! if you had to contend with the built - in inertia and resistance to change existing practices and structures, that i have encountered, you would not be rolling out this world - class technology to the domestic corporate and institutional market. you would not be coming with the technological enhancements that make mauritius more attractive to multinationals with centralised african regional hubs and shared service centres. your product will stimulate the flow of foreign capital into the country, by creating a new banking environment that provides increased choice, control, security and accessibility. we all know how critical it has become to transform the physical flow of funds to an electronic delivery channel without undermining the security and confidence of the banking public. and, at the central bank, we are acutely conscious of the role of a smooth functioning payment system to the effective functioning of the economy. since standard bank started operations here in mauritius in november 2001, it has made significant progress. its asset base ( 2008 ) now stands at around usd850 million and its total deposits amount to usd745 million, having almost doubled over the last two years. standard bank has been a pioneer when it comes to adapting its business model to the rapidly - changing market conditions. in 2006, it became the first offshore bank as they were then called, to shift to universal banking. its new strategy comprised two main elements, namely ( i ) international corporate and investment banking ( ii ) domestic corporate and investment banking, with appropriate treasury / global market and private banking. since then, the bank has launched several initiatives such as ( i ) provision of global custody services to foreign offshore funds and private equity funds, ( ii ) the establishment of a private banking suite, and ( iii ) the launch

and vaccine a significant administration. average inflation rate is also projected to rise from 0. 7 percent in 2020 to 2. 8 percent in 2021 for advanced economies and from 5. 1 percent to 5. 5 percent for emdes. 48. global oil prices : according to the iea oil market report for november 2021, oil prices will on the average remain at favourable levels in 2022. their models project brent crude oil price to be us $ 79. 40pb in 2022. continued strengthening of oil price, in 2022, will also support government fiscal operations of the nigerian government and help stabilize key external sector statistics. 49. domestic outlook : the cbn ’ s in - house model, after an exhaustive simulation with various oil price possibilities and numerous scenarios of other macroeconomic metrics, indicate a continued and strong rebound of the domestic economy. near - term outlook of the nigerian economy is brightening significantly, with improvements projected into the shortand the medium - term. i. gdp : real gdp growth rate is projected to remain robust and strengthen within the shortterm. output growth rate is projected to remain positive from 4. 03 percent in 2021q3 to nearly 2. 91 percent in 2021q4, implying a total growth of about 3. 10 percent for 2021. short - term projection indicates a continued strengthening of the growth rate. deliberate structural policies and reforms are needed to raise these projected trend higher towards the desired 5 percent average growth level. ii. output growth rate for the nigerian economy is broadly estimated by key institutions to consolidate in 2021. the imf and the world bank project real growth rates of 2. 6 percent and 2. 4 percent, respectively while the estimate by the federal ministry of finance and national planning stands at 3. 0 percent. generally, real gdp growth rate is projected to remain robust and strengthen within the short - term, regardless of the immanent vulnerabilities. with this continued strengthening, real gdp could recover beyond the pre - pandemic levels by the first quarter of 2022. further simulations of the medium - term projections suggest that nigeria ’ s real gdp could surpass pre - covid trends by 2024. iii. business environment the confidence : remains optimistic business given the sustained policy interventions in the economy. overall business confidence index is projected to rise significantly from - 9. 2 index points as at end - august to over 37. 7 index points in november 2021 and surpass 57. 6 index points by mid - 2022