program and fight against absolute poverty. the international recognition of the government positive performance was once more expressed by the international monetary fund ( imf ) when on december 18th, 2006, approved the prgf program ( poverty reduction and growth facility ) that mozambique has with that multilateral financial institution, a fact that offers good perspectives for the consolidation of international cooperation. it is worth referring to the changes that took place at the top management level of our institution during the present year. on this occasion, i would like, once again, to express our tribute to dr. adriano maleiane who until mid of the present year was the governor of the banco de mocambique. this recognition is extended to the colleagues of the board of directors who have also retired. they left a legacy of unselfish work in favour of our institution and the mozambican financial system that we are all invited to preserve and to deepen. we would also like to praise the associacao mocambicana de bancos ( mozambican association of banks ) for, most recently, having achieved a consensus in relation to a code of conduct for all its members. main goals for 2006 at the end of the last year, when we met in this same venue, we announced that our performance in 2006 aimed at contributing to the success of the government ’ s agenda, established in the economic and social plan and government budget, documents that pointed out to 7. 9 % economic growth, 9. 5 % average inflation and an external position measured by gross international reserves equivalent to four months of imports of goods and non - factorial services. our intermediary objectives pointed out to 14. 5 % money supply and a growth of the credit to the economy in line with the gdp nominal growth. at that moment, we explained that our agenda for 2006 would basically comprise multi - faced actions aimed at implementing the law nº 7 / 2005, which defines the conversion rate of the metical of the new family. performance of the monetary and foreign exchange policy ladies and gentlemen we began the year 2006 in an adverse international environment, due to the oil price volatility, which in the present year reached a new historic record of about usd 78 / barrel. fortunately, the signs reported this part towards the end of the year give us a certain optimism. preliminary information, based on data of the first semester of 2006, pointed out that the mozambican economy may experiment a real growth around 7. 9 %

ernesto gouveia gove : reinforcement of “ south – south ” cooperation statement by mr ernesto gouveia gove, governor of the central bank of mozambique, at the business function organised by the high commissioner of the republic of south africa on the occasion of nelson mandela ’ s day, maputo, 21 july 2010. * * * the governor of the banco de mocambique, mr. ernesto gouveia gove, defended last sunday, july 18, the reinforcement of “ south – south ” cooperation in order to minimize, in future, the access problems to international markets and the volatility of their prices. the governor ’ s statement as regards the issue was made during the business function organized by the high commissioner of the republic of south africa, in maputo, on the occasion of nelson mandela ’ s day. the function, which had the presence of mozambican and south african businessmen and members of the parliament of that country responsible for economic matters, served to increase synergies between the business sectors of both countries. – this meeting occurs in a moment when the recovery signs of the global economic activity have began to be strong worldwide, after years of major economic and financial crisis, whose effects in countries like ours had a strong impact on external sector, particularly through decline of export revenues as a result of the fall of international prices of almost all the exporting products – said the governor. in his point of view, the integration process underway in our countries, considering the existing investment opportunities, can contribute to the success of the fight against poverty and underdevelopment. according to the governor, the southern africa needs to be united in order to eliminate information asymmetries. – we need to share our vast experiences and to speak about what each one can do or offer to develop our countries. we need to give content and frame to the process of regional integration underway, implementing the strategic plan that already exists and undertaking the common and integrated projects, particularly the cross - border projects that can boost the regional trade – stressed the governor. in this context, mr. ernesto gove considers that the sadc member country authorities should proceed with institutional and macroeconomic reforms that allow the attraction of more investments to the region. it is also strongly recommended to deepen the financial sector so that it can develop a modern and strong capital market to fulfill the existing financing gap in so crucial infrastructure projects of the region.