everyday economic activity, was not impaired. lastly, we assisted national treasury in setting up and administering government ’ s loan guarantee scheme, aimed at providing lending support to qualifying businesses. as we reflect on south africa ’ s response to the crisis, we should remember that we have an important conventional monetary policy tool, the overnight interest rate, at our disposal. this is in contrast to most advanced and a few emerging economies that operate largely at the zero lower bound of their policy interest rates and had to rely on large - scale quantitative easing ( qe ) – defined as central bank purchases of longer - term financial assets – as their main monetary policy tool to ease financial conditions and provide economic stimulus. 2 however, qe is a second - best alternative to stimulating the economy, and less relevant for a country such as south africa. we entered the covid - 19 crisis with our policy rate at 6. 25 % and were, as such, able to reduce it significantly by 275 basis points to 3. 5 % in a short pace of time. even with this large reduction, we are still far from the zero lower bound and can still rely on interest rates before having to consider qe - type measures, should economic conditions 1 sarb media release, ‘ changes to the money market liquidity management strategy of the south african reserve bank ’, 20 march 2020, available here sarb media release, ‘ further amendments to the money market liquidity management strategy of the south african reserve bank and additions to the monetary policy portfolio ’, 25 march 2020, available here prudential authority media release, ‘ regulatory relief measures and guidance to the banking sector in response to covid - 19 ’, 6 april 2020, available here south african reserve bank, ‘ note on south africa ’ s liquidity measures in response to the covid - 19 pandemic ’, quarterly bulletin, june 2020, available here 2 see b s bernanke, ‘ the new tools of monetary policy ’, american economic association presidential address, brookings institution, 4 january 2020, available here deteriorate and inflation moderate further down towards the lower end of the inflation target. 3. medium - term outlook for monetary policy while our policy response to the covid - 19 crisis has helped in stabilising financial markets and containing risks of a financial crisis, the near - term outlook for the economy remains very uncertain, even though we predict a strong recovery in third - quarter gross domestic product ( gdp ) from the second quarter ’ s low

francois groepe : the role of chartered accountants in south africa ’ s economic growth and development address by mr francois groepe, deputy governor of the south african reserve bank, at irba ’ s public practice examination function, johannesburg, 9 april 2013. * * * introduction i wish to thank the independent regulatory board for auditors ( irba ) for inviting me to speak and to be part of this auspicious occasion at which the top ten candidates in the most recent public practice examination ( ppe ) are honoured. allow me to extend my heartfelt congratulations to each of the top ten candidates. in the most recent world economic forum ’ s global competiveness report, south africa achieved a country ranking of 52nd out of 144 countries that were ranked, and beat stiff competition to be ranked number one in the following areas : • strength of auditing and reporting ; • regulation of securities exchanges ; and • efficacy of corporate boards. it is therefore evident that south africa ’ s auditing and accounting professionals are among the best in the world, and hence you should feel a deep sense of pride to be admitted to a profession, that is not only held in high regard in south africa but very clearly throughout the world. you are fully justified to feel proud to use the designation ca ( sa ) – and so do all of us gathered here today share in that pride. i wish, however, to remind you of a quote by john f kennedy, “ to those whom much is given, much is expected. ” as newly qualified chartered accountants many of you have had the benefit of good schooling and tertiary education. you have further benefitted from the investment in you and opportunities created for you by this society. this privilege imposes upon you a moral obligation to plough back into both, your immediate communities and our society at large by ensuring that you adhere to, and promote the high ethical and professional standards of your profession. i further wish to appeal to you to retain your sense of curiosity and eagerness to learn. the attainment of this qualification does not imply that you have acquired all there is to know. i would sincerely encourage you to continue on the path of learning, whether it is the pursuit of further formal qualifications or more informal modes of learning. i would also encourage you to broaden your knowledge base by studying other disciplines as it would add further depth and perspective to your analysis, understanding and knowledge of various issues, and therefore should improve the quality of solutions you develop for the ever