the low nominal interest rate environment, debt servicing cost as a percentage of disposable income remained unchanged at a relatively low level of 6½ per cent. the monetary and credit aggregates have also been increasing at rates consistent with strong domestic demand. year - on - year growth in m3 picked up from 17, 1 per cent in june 2005 to 19, 9 per cent in july and 19, 0 per cent in august. total domestic credit extension grew by 18, 0 per cent in july and 18, 3 per cent in august. twelve - month growth in bank loans and advances to the private sector remained above 20 per cent, with increases in mortgage advances reaching 26 per cent in august. the latter reflects continued buoyancy in the housing market, although the rate of increase in house prices has fallen steadily since september 2004. strong domestic demand and high international crude oil prices have impacted on the current account of the balance of payments. although the deficit on the current account of the balance of payments as a percentage of gdp contracted to 3, 4 per cent in the second quarter of 2005, data for july and august indicate a possible widening of the trade deficit in the third quarter. the current account however remains financed by capital inflows, and the international liquidity position of the bank increased to a level of us $ 16, 1 billion at the end of september. world inflation is expected to be negatively affected by higher oil prices. the imf now predicts that world inflation in 2006 will average 3, 7 per cent, compared to the april forecast of 3, 1 per cent for the same period. nevertheless this is lower than the revised 3, 9 per cent average expected for 2005 and 2 / 3 indicates that world inflation appears to be well contained. world growth is expected to be sustained at a robust rate of 4, 3 per cent in 2006 although it has moderated somewhat since last year. not all developments have been negative from an inflation perspective. although inflation expectations have deteriorated moderately, there is no evidence that this has impacted on wage settlements. unit labour costs in the first half of this year increased at rates within the inflation target range, measuring 4, 6 per cent and 5, 3 per cent in the first two quarters of this year. the nominal effective exchange rate of the rand depreciated by 0, 3 per cent since the last meeting of the mpc, but it has been relatively stable over the period. the volatility that did occur was to a large extent

findex database 2014, measuring financial inclusion around the world. there have been three successful attacks on banks using the swift money transfer network. the latest of these affected an ecuadorian bank on 12 - 22 january 2015. during this period, at least 12 fraudulent transfer requests instructed wells fargo to send us $ 12 million belonging to ecuador ’ s banco del austro to accounts in dubai, hong kong, and the united states. wells fargo complied with these requests. page 8 of 11 seek to address cybersecurity threats and enhance cyber - resilience. it is therefore very important to strengthen international cooperation and peer exchange of information in this area. in this regard, the sarb hosted its first cybersecurity conference last month, with the theme of ‘ collaboration for building cyber - resilience ’. 4. the rise in african cross - border banks and financial regulatory impacts on africa as i come to the end of my remarks, i would like to briefly touch on the rapid growth in recent years of african cross - border banks, or pan - african banks ( pabs ) – a further testimony to the ‘ africa rising ’ theme. pabs are improving competition, especially in host countries with small markets, driving innovation and bringing new opportunities for diversification for the home countries. but with rapid growth come a number of responsibilities, such as maintaining financial stability and ensuring adequate cooperation and resolution strategies among home and host financial supervisors16. the rising trend of crossborder banking in africa is an opportunity to further strengthen regional financial integration. in this regard, the work of the association of african central banks under the auspices of the community of african banking supervisors ( cabs ) is an important initiative to consider the potential macro financial spillovers across countries. implementing regulatory coordination measures on financial integration and access will have substantial benefits in promoting growth on the continent. the global regulatory reforms agreed to in the aftermath of the global financial crisis have been vast, complex, and ground - breaking in many aspects, requiring effective coordination among many stakeholders. many of the ‘ fault lines ’ that had contributed to the crisis have been addressed, but the full, consistent, and timely implementation – ensuring a level playing field and addressing the major unintended consequences of the reforms – remains an ongoing challenge. the report on pan - african banks - opportunities and challenges for cross - border oversight, imf, january 12, 2015. page 9 of 11 one of these unintended consequences is related to the effects arising from the global reforms addressing the