long - term direct investments. 2. raising finance on the foreign bond market the south african government recently made two further very successful issues in international capital markets. an issue in the samurai yen market raised the equivalent of $ 357 million for seven years, and an issue in the american yankee market provided an amount of $ 500 million for a twenty - year period. both these loans were raised at relatively attractive interest rates. the international private financial markets have developed very rapidly in recent years, and now provide for the needs of many types of borrowers. only sovereign borrowers, however, and large multinational corporations will be able to raise funds through public issues in these markets. many other types of foreign loan facilities are, however, available to other borrowers. it is known that the reserve bank is at present busy negotiating for a syndicated loan with a group of foreign banking institutions for $ 1½ billion. smaller borrowers can, of course, also negotiate loans on a bilateral basis with one of the many foreign banking institutions that provide their services in the south african markets. it is fairly easy for reputable and established south african organisations at this stage to raise foreign funds. non - residents are no longer affected by the remaining exchange controls, and accept the credibility of the south african authorities in their determination gradually to remove the remaining controls. one major constraint, however, is provided by the volatility of exchange rates, even amongst the major currencies of the world. it is not only the south african rand that showed great volatility over the past year, but also many other currencies. the exchange rate between the deutsche mark and the us dollar, for example, changed from $ 1 = 1. 54dm at the beginning of january 1997, to $ 1 = 1. 79dm today, i. e. a change of 16. 2 per cent. at this stage, the malaysian ringgit, the thai baht, the indonesian rupiah, the philippine peso and the czech koruna are all under pressure from international currency speculators. south african borrowers of foreign funds will therefore most probably prefer to cover foreign borrowings with forward exchange contracts, which will eliminate any cost advantages from lower interest rates in other countries. we nevertheless believe that it is in the interest of the south african economy to make use of foreign finance where available, as this will enable the country to maintain a higher rate of economic development. we are indeed confident that, if carefully managed, the relaxation of exchange

firmlevel disclosures provide a good starting point that provide the basis that supervisors and regulators can build upon for the development of standardised regulatory reporting requirements. a concern we often hear from financial institutions – with good reason i would say – is to ask authorities in different jurisdictions to standardise reporting where possible. as we put in place these new reporting requirements, we have an opportunity to ensure that they are well standardised from the start. let ’ s take this opportunity. scenario analyses are currently one of the most effective supervisory tools. they promote a more sophisticated understanding of risks by financial institutions, and how these risks connect with transition scenarios. our consultation report encourages the expanded use of climate scenario analysis and stress tests to incorporate system - wide aspects of climate - related risks such as indirect exposures, risk transfers, spillovers and feedback loops. our report also introduces some early thoughts on the use of macroprudential tools, which is still at a nascent stage. it highlights the early work of jurisdictions to develop macroprudential approaches and calls for further research to be undertaken to assist as we continue our journey to develop our macroprudential policy toolbox. our public consultation closes at the end of june, and we would welcome your feedback by then. the final report will be published in october. it is almost a year now since we published our roadmap with its wide - ranging set of actions. to be more precise, coordinated actions by both public and private - sector players, to address climaterelated financial risks. to emphasise that point : the roadmap is deliberately designed as a joint endeavour. we need to combine our efforts for an efficient and comprehensive response to climate risk in the financial system. the fsb ’ s upcoming progress report, which will be submitted to the g20 in july, will provide a stocktake of how far we have come and what the next steps should be. let me wrap up. the swans i see on the amstel river, the ones that have a calming, mesmerizing effect on me are, of course, not the green swans this conference refers to. nevertheless, they have some important commonalities. the gracefulness of a swan obscures what happens beneath the water ’ s surface. it conceals what it takes to propel action. it makes the hard look easy. in the same way, a graceful climate transition requires urgent action under the surface. as policy makers, we must ensure that the move to