does not mean that the national bank of serbia should not act in coordination with the government. to the contrary, joint work on achieving and maintaining a low rate of inflation will yield the optimal result. but, central bank independence means that the nbs will not directly pursue objectives relating to social or quasi - developmental policies, employment, exports or regional development, or, even less, to electoral timing, but that it will implement a monetary policy that ensures price stability and thereby achieve all of the above listed objectives. as many as two centuries ago, dositej endeavoured to bring serbia closer to europe. today, we have a duty to continue his efforts – a duty both to the past, but even more so to the future. harmonization with european standards must not, however, serve as a disguise for “ adjustment ” to internal daily political needs, especially when it comes to such an important institution as the national bank of serbia.

glenn stevens : overview of the australian economy opening statement by mr glenn stevens, governor of the reserve bank of australia, to the house of representatives standing committee on economics, melbourne, 26 august 2011. * * * quite a bit has happened in both the global and local economies since we last met with the committee. in february, we had seen the queensland floods, and cyclone yasi had just occurred. tropical storms had disrupted iron ore shipments out of western australia. there was understandably a focus on what the economic effects of those events would be. it was thought likely that economic activity as measured would be materially weaker in the march quarter than had been earlier expected, but that there would be a recovery in the middle of the year. it was thought that the rebuilding efforts in queensland would exert a mild expansionary effect on demand beginning in the second half of the year. gdp was indeed weak in the march quarter, with the fall in coal and iron ore production more than offsetting a modest increase in output in the rest of the economy. since then, the rebound in production of iron ore has been more or less as expected and the disruption to general economic activity in queensland associated with floods has abated. but in the case of coal, largely for environmental reasons, the process of dewatering pits is taking longer than initially expected. the recovery of coal production in queensland is probably about two - thirds complete at the present time. it may be early next year before production has fully recovered. this has had a material effect on the forecasts for gdp. it was also understood in february that there would be large effects on the consumer price index because of the loss of key crops. these were expected to be temporary and, indeed, prices for the relevant items are now falling back as crops begin to recover. the bank has been clear that such fluctuations have had no implications for monetary policy. we didn ’ t know in february that a serious japanese earthquake would have a significant effect on global manufacturing production and sales, including in australia ’ s motor vehicle sector. this explains part of the apparent slowing in global growth in the june quarter. part of the slowing in growth in major countries is also likely to have been caused by the increase in energy prices in the early part of the year, which now appears gradually to be reversing. another factor at work, though, has been the concerns about public debt in major countries. these were apparent six months ago, but have escalated markedly in the intervening period.