in both these channels and we, in africa, can count ourselves lucky that they have not been put to the test, at least so far. bis central bankers ’ speeches however, we need to be wary that a continued slowdown in the west could cut demand for african exports of goods and services and curb private finance flows. hence the need for africa to look within the continent for greater resource mobilization while, at the same time, accelerating regional integration to safeguard against volatility in finance, employment, output and growth. despite its numerous challenges, africa seems to have emerged so far in a fair state of health. experience varies but, generally, african economies have logged an impressive growth performance. this year, 2011, several african states rank among the fastest - growing economies in the world. ghana outshines china and india. nearly a dozen countries from angola to zimbabwe run neck - to - neck with them, outperforming brazil and russia. so far, so good, then. but what of the future? what are the prospects? whither africa? how far will the newly emerging element in northen africa, the “ arab spring ” affect the picture? will the ‘ great leap forward ’ acclaimed by donald kaberuka, chairman of the african development bank, at the g20 meeting in paris on 21 october 2011, mean, as he claims, that africa has “ left behind the stagnation of the past ”? the optimism is grounded in a solid record of achievement. and yet, there is so much in africa, that could be done better, smarter, and more efficiently. take the regional integration agenda, for example. the complex political and economic affiliations of the 54 african states, – organised in an alphabet soup of 6 economic blocs, with many overlapping intra - regional groupings – can lead to wasteful duplication of efforts. the differing goals of these political and economic blocs, their differing timelines, and differing methods of operation can dissipate collective efforts towards the goal of many for african union. they slow down negotiations for continental level integration. can this shifting geometry of linkages really ease the overall continental integration process? or, does it not cry out for simplification? bis central bankers ’ speeches africa has undoubted untapped wealth and potential. it is no longer the dark continent! it has 70 per cent of world ’ s production of cocoa ; 50 per cent of speciality coffee ; 12 per cent of tea ; 10

sakuya fujiwara : inside a monetary policy meeting speech by mr sakuya fujiwara, deputy governor of the bank of japan, at toyo university, 13 march 2003. * * * introduction i would like to express my gratitude for the opportunity to give this speech. as you may be aware, my five - year tenure as deputy governor of the bank of japan is drawing to an end. it is also almost five years since the revised bank of japan law came into effect. the law was revised comprehensively in 1997, for the first time in its roughly 50 years of existence, in line with a growing trend among central banks around the world to strengthen their autonomy and ensure greater transparency in the implementation of their policies. previously a journalist, i was appointed as deputy governor at a time when the bank of japan was to start afresh with the new bank of japan law. it was a truly dramatic change for me. the journalist who had been watching the bank's policy from the outside, suddenly found himself working inside! through this, so to speak, switching sides, i discovered many things that were new to me about the bank. also, explaining monetary policy, there were many occasions when i was able to gain new insights into the function of the media. the bank, as the central bank of japan, conducts various kinds of business - the best known of which i believe is the issuance of banknotes. today, based on my five years'experience at the bank, i would like to talk about the process by which monetary policy is decided in accordance with the bank of japan law of 1997. more specifically, i will talk about what happens in monetary policy meetings ( mpms ). i. what is monetary policy? first, i would like to briefly explain the basics of monetary policy. the bank of japan law of 1997 mandates that the bank's monetary policy shall be aimed, through the pursuit of price stability, at contributing to the sound development of the national economy, making it clear that the objective of monetary policy is to achieve price stability. for the satisfactory development of an economy, it is necessary that resources be allocated efficiently. the competitive market mechanism is a great device to achieve this end. to enable the market mechanism to perform this function properly, one must have a grasp of the trend of prices of goods and services - relative prices, to be more precise - or, from the standpoint of firms, the trend in popular demand for products. a correct assessment of