others, it ’ s new. by some estimates, close to half of the tasks done by workers could already be automated using current technology. 3 this anxiety has real costs. it has eroded trust in the framework for international co - operation in areas that have served us well in the past : trade policy and financial sector regulation are good examples. as a way of spurring discussion today, i will cover three points : 1. technological progress will raise economic growth, although the channels through which it contributed to rising inequality in the past are still forces to be reckoned with. 1 / 7 bis central bankers'speeches 2. it doesn ’ t have to be this way — if we apply fresh thinking in some key areas, we can make policy choices that manage the side effects of innovation, without stifling it. 3. policy - makers themselves need to dig into the technology — the better we understand it and the underlying business incentives, the better policy choices we will make. the past provides insight for the future technology has transformed our daily lives at an astonishing pace. google is not yet 20 years old. who knew, even 5 years ago, that some people would be making a small fortune as professional video - game players? and, while parents have been worrying about how much screen time their kids should have, a growing number of professions — from firefighters to surgeons — have embraced the “ gamification ” trend, integrating video exercises into their training programs. let ’ s remember that per capita output has increased around five times in g7 countries since the early 1950s. our average life expectancy during this period has risen from 67 to 81 years. 4 not bad. yet, recent voting behaviour and public discourse make it clear that many people question what is in it for them and their families when it comes to technology and globalization. a study here at home showed that the more pessimistic people were about technology, the more worried they were about their own prospects. 5 many of us would agree that the data point to a concerning trend. the share of income going to labour has been declining in many economies, including the g7. 6 the share of income going to the top 1 per cent has nearly doubled since 1980 in some of our countries, amounting now to as much as 20 per cent. 7 if we want to find a better road forward, identifying the underlying issues is the right place to start. one question is, what is it exactly about innovation — and, to a lesser extent

shilling appreciated following increased capital inflows for the safaricom ipo and depreciated as investors took profits and exited the stock market – a management failure in the ipo process. we have detailed this in the press release of the monetary policy committee ( mpc ) of november 2008. we provide monetary policy committee press releases to share information and even show how to process the information. b. monetary policy decisions inflation continues to be a challenge but expectations are that it will come down to its target level in 2009 of 5 percent. it seems likely that there will be some disinflation in the upcoming months. the cpi computation has been revised, so is the basket of goods using the 2005 / 06 household budget survey. the government is taking adequate steps to address the supply constraints. there were indications of a liquidity crunch towards the end of 2008 with short term interest rates moving upwards. money demand rises in the festive season and so we used our liquidity management tools to increase liquidity in order to stabilize the interest rates in the short term and also hope to sustain a low interest rate regime that would support investment and growth revival to the pre - crises period. you are aware the mpc reduced the statutory cash ratio from 6 percent to 5 percent at the beginning of december. to support this, it also lowered the central bank rate from 9 percent to 8. 5 percent to enhance liquidity in the banking system and to nurture the economic recovery process. so far repo and interbank interest rates have declined to 4. 8 percent and 5. 8 percent respectively. cbk desires to have a low, stable interest rate environment that encourages private investment. this will support faster economic recovery from the 2008 shocks. the kenya shilling was volatile and followed global developments ; appreciating against the us dollar and the sterling pound but depreciating against the euro and the japanese yen. against the us dollar, the shilling has lately been oscillating around ksh78 to the dollar. but most spectacular were the effects the dollar had on the pound and euro. between september 2, 2008 and january 12, 2009, the us dollar has appreciated by 7. 7 percent and 16. 5 percent against the euro and pound respectively. there were also “ flight - to - safety ” concerns in the wake of the global financial crisis as banks dumped asset backed securities and preferred us bills and bonds. the global liquidity is increasingly being measured in us dollars and so scar