little - mauritius ” isolationist islander reflex will do a disservice to our national ambition. for the sake of transparency, i am providing, as in previous years, details on all my overseas engagements as well as those of my first deputy governor, second deputy governor, and chief economist. comesa committee of central bank governors we hosted the 14th meeting of the comesa committee of central bank governors during which we had the honour of welcoming governors and their representatives to mauritius. i raised the profile of the comesa meeting by inviting two key speakers to make presentations on ( i ) “ the evolving structure and role of monetary policy committees ” by a member of the kenya monetary policy committee and ( ii ) “ issues of governance in central banks ” by mr gavin bingham, secretary - general of the central bank governance forum at the bank for international settlements, often called the central bank of central banks. i also invited two private sector operators to make presentations to governors on a currency / commodity trading platform and secure cash conveyance. these initiatives by the bank – unprecedented in the history of the comesa committee of governors – were so highly appreciated that the committee decided to create space at its future meetings for invited speakers and private sector participants to address issues of direct interest to central bank governors. at this 14th meeting, the bank assumed the chairmanship of this key comesa committee, which i see as an opportunity for us to become more involved in taking forward the calendar of regional integration to which the bank is deeply committed. the dynamism with which the bank has gone regional, heightened our visibility on the international front and has earned us much respect. i am grateful for the support which comesa governors lent to our successful candidature to host afritac ( south ), one of the two new african technical assistance centres which the imf is establishing in africa, in the face of strong regional contenders. we shall soon begin work on refurbishing the old bank building to house this facility. i am also happy to record that an increasing number of central banks in the region are sending their officers on attachment to the bank to learn from our experience in various areas of central bank operations. surely, we must be doing a few things right! dialogue with our stakeholders a distinguishing feature of last year was the heightened consultation and collaboration with all our stakeholders. this enhanced interaction was reflected in the long consultation process through which our regulatory and supervisory guidelines pass before being finalised and issued to the industry. another egregious

which will also create room for further tax cuts and absorb the fiscal costs of population ageing. this reform agenda, as well as the urgent structural reforms relating to product, labour and financial markets, will be addressed in the forthcoming broad economic policy guidelines. overall, such reforms reflect the key challenge for the euro area to expand its potential for non - inflationary growth and to reduce its high level of unemployment. the governing council calls upon member states to make faster progress in accelerating and deepening structural reforms in order to provide economic agents with the proper incentives to enhance efficiency and entrepreneurship and to progress towards a knowledge - based economy as proclaimed in the lisbon agenda and confirmed in barcelona. we are now at your disposal for questions.