a result of these efforts, openness has improved substantially and the economy has started to rebalance towards tradable, export - oriented sectors. specifically, the share of total exports in gdp increased from 19. 0 % in 2009 to 30. 2 % in 2016, while between 2010 and 2016 the relative prices of tradables versus non - tradables rose by about 9 %. as a consequence, the size of the tradables sector relative to that of the non - tradables, measured by gross value added, grew by approximately 11 % at constant prices and by about 21 % at current prices, while in terms of employment it increased by around 7 %. despite any missteps and conflicting signals, there are encouraging signs also regarding foreign direct investment ( fdi ). fdi inflows reached a post - 2010 record of almost €2. 8 billion in 2016 ( 1. 6 % of gdp ), and were mainly targeted at services sectors ( i. e. hotels and restaurants, transportation, financial intermediation and real estate activities ). in the first nine months of 2017 the cumulative inflow already reached €3. 0 billion, and as was the case in 2016, continued to target the services sectors. increased fdi inflows indicate the positive assessment of major foreign investors about the prospects of the greek economy. turning to the banking system, significant recapitalisation, following stringent stress tests along with in - depth asset quality reviews, now ensures that greek banks are among the best capitalised in europe. this fact, along with an npe coverage ratio of 47 % and good collateral, will play a catalytic role in allowing banks to address the pressing issue of reducing the high stock of non - performing loans. in addition, significant institutional reforms have been initiated aiming at providing banks with a variety of means of reducing non - performing loans, such as the creation of a secondary market for distressed assets, an out - of - court settlement mechanism and e - auctions. according to incoming data, there has been progress since the beginning of the year in the area of banks ’ non - performing exposures ( npe ). at end - june 2017, the stock of npes ( including off - balance - sheet items ) was 3. 2 % lower than at end - december 2016. 2. 1 prospects of the greek economy 2 / 7 bis central bankers'speeches the economic recovery continues and growth is gathering pace following the completion of the second review

mpc schools challenge winners announcement wednesday, 31 august 2022 speaking notes for lesetja kganyago, governor of the south african reserve bank ( sarb ) good afternoon esteemed guests, bank officials, learners, and those join us online. i wish to acknowledge the presence of colleagues from the ministry of basic education led by minister angie motshekga. we are grateful for the privilege of working in partnership with the department of basic education ( dbe ) on the mpc schools challenge. as usual, representatives from all provincial departments of education collaborated with us from the very beginning, culminating in today ’ s announcement of the winners of the competition. this year, for the very first time we also extended an invitation to independent schools through the independent examination board ( ieb ), and i am happy that they too could join us here today. as some of you may recall, in 2021 we suspended the challenge due to the covid pandemic. in 2021, we hosted the entire process virtually. this year we introduced a hybrid approach, something we hope to continue to do going forward. we are pleased that 225 schools attended the briefing sessions for learners and teachers, and 102 schools submitted essays that are required to proceed to the next level of the competition. these essays are prepared in the same format as the sarb mpc statement. the statement must reflect global and domestic economic conditions and factors and reflect the decision of the learners on its monetary policy stance. it ’ s pleasing to note that essays were received from all provinces, confirming that this is indeed a national competition. assessment of candidates the essays received were subjected to a rigorous marking and moderation process. bank economists, representatives from the dbe and ieb participated in this process. eight schools made the final cut and had to present their mpc statement to a panel of judges – this part of the challenge was done in person. the judging panel was composed of senior staff of the bank ’ s economic research department. representatives from the dbe and ieb remained in the venue throughout all learner presentations and deliberations by judges about the ranking of finalists – a transparent and inclusive process. over the years, a trend has been forming. girls seem to make up the majority of finalists. this year 26 out of 32 finalists are female, so that makes it more than 80 % female. this is a trend worth noting, particularly during the month of august. officials were also happy with the quality of presentations as well as the confidence