tensions as may emerge within the eurozone - with or without the uk - is likely to be easier in a context of structural, supply - side, flexibility and adaptability in labour and product markets. now, many people in the eurozone acknowledge these concerns. but they are inclined to argue that if a country participating in the monetary union were to find itself in an unsustainable situation, and given that it would have no macro - economic way out - through exchange rate adjustment, or independent monetary policy action, or fiscal stimulus beyond the limits of the growth and stability pact - and given limited labour migration or fiscal redistribution at the pan - european level - then it would have an overwhelming incentive to undertake the supply - side reforms which have proved so difficult to introduce up until now. one of my ecb colleagues in fact once put it to me that - “ when we have closed off every other policy option, we will finally be forced to do the things we know that we should have been doing all along! ” there are those, i know, who find our hesitation about the euro - in an economic context - hard to understand. that ’ s true particularly of those who have been in effective de facto monetary union with the deutsche mark for a long time already. but it is not just stubbornness or obstinacy on our part though we british can of course be pretty stubborn at times. in the macro - economic context it reflects a real debate about the risks and potential costs of divergence between our own monetary policy needs and those of the members of the eurozone - which in turn depend upon the extent to which our economies really have achieved sustainable convergence, and the extent to which we are able to respond flexibly on the supply side to economic shocks or tensions between our domestic monetary policy needs and those of our european partners. as you know, the chancellor of the exchequer announced some three years ago that we would not join the euro in the first wave. he made it clear that the present british government is not opposed to euro membership as a matter of principle. it will make a decision on pragmatic grounds, based upon five economic tests. these are : whether the uk economy has achieved sustainable convergence with the economies of the single currency ; whether there is sufficient flexibility in the uk economy to adapt to change and other unexpected economic events ; whether joining the single currency would create better conditions for businesses to make long - term decisions to invest in the uk ; the impact membership would have on the uk

patrick njoroge : strengthening kenya ’ s sovereign borrowing program – challenges and initiatives keynote speech by dr patrick njoroge, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the government borrowers forum, paris, 3 may 2016. * * * honorable minister, world bank vice president and treasurer, madame commissioner, excellencies, distinguished guests. good morning! it is a great pleasure to speak before this distinguished group today. i would like to express my thanks to the organizers and our french hosts for their gracious hospitality. this meeting brings together public sector representatives facing common challenges and opportunities relating to their public sector borrowing programs. it takes place at a crucial time, given the current state of the global recovery and the increased downside risks. in its communique three weeks ago, the imfc noted that the global outlook had weakened and summarized the situation as follows : “ although recent developments point to some improvements in sentiment, financial market volatility and risk aversion have risen [ … ] downside risks to the global economic outlook have increased since october, raising the possibility of a more generalized slowdown and a sudden pull - back of capital flows. [ … ] against this backdrop, it is important to buttress confidence in our policies. ” allow me to elaborate on how we are addressing these challenges, and the initiatives we are undertaking to strengthen our sovereign borrowing program. like other central banks around the world, we are agents of the government with respect to its borrowing program, but we have lead some of the reforms in this area due to the close connection with other aspects of our mandate. i will conclude with a few words about the status of our banking sector. macroeconomic stability in the second half of 2015, the central bank of kenya moved decisively to deal with the emerging risks, particularly, rising inflation expectations and pressures in the foreign exchange market. this was against a backdrop of increased instability in the global financial markets, with uncertainty around the timing of the increase in u. s. interest rates, coupled with pressures from china ’ s financial markets and the debt crisis in greece. significant stress was also observed in our domestic government securities market in august to october 2015, due to the tighter liquidity conditions and a perception of increased borrowing requirements. market conditions stabilized and then improved towards the end of 2015 – inflation expectations are now better anchored, interest rates have fallen to normal levels, and the foreign exchange market has remained stable. developments in the foreign exchange market are supported by a narrowing of the