been made, and we are still advancing in this direction. we are following the procedure for joining the oecd, and expect to become members this year. 4. finally, reform of the bank supervision in israel. there is a worldwide consensus that supervision reforms are necessary, and this applies to israel too, and it is important that we proceed rapidly in this area. in conclusion, i would summarize by saying that before i came to the bank of israel i set myself several objectives, not all of which have been achieved yet. the list included a new bank of israel law, a new wage agreement in the bank, and the structural reorganization of the bank. the reorganization that has taken place in the bank certainly helped it deal correctly with the crisis. other targets remain, albeit of somewhat less importance, but still worth mentioning : ( i ) to improve relations between the ministry of finance and the bank – we share responsibility for the health of the economy, and with two doctors caring for the same patient, it is important that they agree on the correct course of treatment ; ( ii ) to improve the level of public debate in israel, and there is plenty of room for improvement in that area.

meetings with other central bank governors, we discuss the economic situation. in the last meeting, two days ago, they started speaking of optimistic signs. we are currently following an expansionary monetary policy, but we must be ready to change direction if and when necessary, but not before. the markets and the bank of israel expect the april cpi to rise by about one percent. nevertheless, nearly all forecasters expect inflation in 2009 to be below 2 percent, and we do not intend to react to one month's index, especially if it affected by seasonality. the governor of the bank has the role of economic adviser to the government. the budget deficit is expected to be six - and - a - half percent of gdp this year, and five percent next year. growth this year is expected to be a negative one - and - a - half percent, with a rise in the debt / gdp ratio. this is not an advisable direction for the economy to follow. what is of concern is that the debt / gdp ratio at the end of the decade may be back where it was at its beginning. in order to prevent the deficit reaching above 6. 5 percent this year and 5 percent next year, expenditure must be reduced. there are several ways of achieving that, e. g., cutting public sector wages and / or postponing reductions in tax rates. with regard to the current deficit, i suggest starting with the 6. 5 percent of gdp deficit this year and 5 percent next year, to make it very clear that the path is a downward one. 2. the second of this year's objectives is the new bank of israel law. the current prime minister and the minister of finance when i took up office expressed support on this issue, and that was one of my conditions on accepting the position. why is the new law so important? there are several reasons : the new law will formalize the independence of the bank ; it will specify the bank's obligation regarding transparency ; there will be a monetary committee that will make interest rate decisions together with the governor ; and there will be an administrative council that will approve administrative decisions. why is a decision by committee preferable to a decision by an individual? research has shown that on average, decisions made by a committee are better than those of a single decision maker. the current bank of israel law is 55 years old. 3. the third task relates to the integration of israel's economy into the global economy. progress has