, was the basis for our decisions. so, let ’ s think about how the economy evolved and how the criteria for that guidance steered the path of policy. in early 2021, the committee began noting whether the economy was making progress toward our employment and inflation goals, and thus getting closer to decisions on unwinding our highly accommodative policy. based on our positive experience with unwinding after the global financial crisis ( gfc ), we thought it would be appropriate to use the same sequence of steps : taper asset purchases until they ceased, then lift rates off the effective lower bound, then gradually and passively reduce our balance sheet by redeeming maturing securities. most importantly, through various communications, we made it clear that tapering of asset purchases would have to be completed before rate liftoff to avoid the conflict that would occur by easing via continuing asset purchases versus tightening through rate hikes. in the previous episode of tightening policy after extraordinary accommodation, this process was very gradual. tapering of asset purchases took 11 months, and then the first rate hike did not occur until more than a year after purchases ended. balance sheet reduction began more than a year and half after that. this gradualism worked well then, and it surely influenced the committee ’ s approach this time. implementing this approach required two pieces of guidance : first, criteria for beginning the tapering process, and, second, criteria to begin raising the policy rate from the effective lower bound. through explicit language in fomc statements, we told the public the necessary conditions that needed to be met before we would adjust these two policies. - 5for asset purchases, the committee declared that tapering would wait “ until substantial further progress has been made toward the committee ’ s maximum employment and price stability goals. ” 4 meanwhile, the fomc said that it would keep rates near zero until our employment goal had been reached and until inflation had reached 2 percent and was “ on track to moderately exceed 2 percent for some time. ” 5 a fair question is : what did these words mean? and, in particular, what did the phrases “ substantial further progress ” for tapering and “ for some time ” for liftoff mean? in large part the interpretation hinged on how the committee viewed the economy would recover from the pandemic. looking across forecasts at the time by committee participants and the private sector, no one expected substantial progress toward both our goals to happen very soon. the economy had begun

wait, is repairing the damage to lives and livelihoods that covid - 19 has caused. recently, the world bank estimated that the pandemic could push up to 100 million people globally into extreme poverty. there have been significant setbacks to the implementation of the sustainable development goals ( sdgs ) particularly in health and education. how then does digitization act as the bridge to post covid - 19 recovery? first, we must put people at the centre of the global financial system. for both the public and private sector, the key question must be what are the needs of the people particularly in the context of the sdgs, and how will digitalization work for them? how do we get citizens to participate for instance in financing the health, education and other social services that are critical for their lives and livelihoods? in kenya, we introduced m - akiba in 2017, a mobile phone - based government digital bond to mobilise micro - savings of as little as usd30 to finance government. this was targeted at a segment of the population that could not participate in conventional government securities with a minimum threshold of usd500. this concept is now being replicated in other countries most notably, bangladesh. second, we must connect our citizens to the digital ecosystem. while digitalization has been a lifeline in the pandemic, we risk alienating a large swathe of the global population. over 700 million people lack broadband connectivity while over a billion lack formal identification. governments must therefore invest in digital infrastructure including basic enablers such as reliable electricity supply. investment in digital identity to connect citizens is imperative lest we leave them behind. substantial public and private investment will be required towards this end. third and perhaps most important is empowering and protecting our citizens in the digital realm. notwithstanding the significant benefits that digitalization presents, it also poses serious risks related to cybersecurity and data privacy. as many of our citizens connect to digital platforms for the first time, they may lose their hard earned funds to criminal actors in the digital arena. we must therefore equip them with the requisite skills to effectively use digital platforms while protecting their data and funds. as i conclude, i want to stress that kenya is on a journey to a digital economy and so is barbados. we are prepared to walk with you, sharing our own experiences, challenges and learning from you as well. our two countries have a common heritage and vision of the shared prosperity of our citizens. the linkages that have