buyers and sellers and, more importantly, a center to manage price risks. it is also a very liquid market. currency prices are based on objective considerations of supply and demand and cannot be easily manipulated because the size of the market does not allow even the largest players, to move prices at will. futures market prices depend on a continuous flow of information from around the world and thus require a high amount of transparency. it is an indeed very exciting time – watching the developments, albeit small, that are taking place in our financial system. we hope that after a few such training sessions we will soon see our exporters proactively seeking ways to hedge their risks. we have an exchange in mauritius which is properly licensed and regulated, where there is price transparency. i can only encourage our operators to participate in it. gbot currently offers gold and silver contracts and futures in five currency pairs : eur / usd, gbp / usd, jpy / usd, zar / usd as well as usd / mur. i have no doubt the exporters will find among these, the instruments that would most suit their needs. may i add that the central bank is also closely monitoring the currency trading. since the start of operations until the end of april, the total turnover of transactions in the various currency pairs conducted by gbot add up to nearly usd 1. 4 billion. so far, so good, one may be tempted to say. but what is far from good is that trading in the rupee - dollar currency pair came to a grand total of less than usd 1 single million! there is considerable room for improvement, isn ’ t there? we will continue to support the development of professional training courses and investor education programmes to deepen expertise in the sector. one example of such training is the optionsxpress® investor education series of the chicago mercantile exchange on futures options and which had the slogan : “ get your feet wet before you take the plunge ”. i do believe this is what our exporters are precisely here for – to get their feet wet. it is important that you have a proper knowledge of the product and an understanding of the arithmetic of its leverage – which i am sure, should help dispel much of the mystique bis central bankers ’ speeches surrounding the world of derivatives. you should not overlook your treasury operations. this reminds me of general motors ( gm ), the renowned us car maker which founded in 1919 the general motors acceptance corporation ( gmac ) to provide

are currently looking at ways of promoting both more “ shopping around ” and enhancing consumer financial literacy. we are also working with our friends in the mauritius bankers association to stimulate competition in the cash segment of the foreign exchange market. we have just licensed 14 new money changers. to bring them on stream in an orderly manner we are putting in place an on - line real - time monitoring system. this is all part of the vigilance necessary to improve on our record in the implementation of the financial intelligence and anti - money laundering regime. you are all aware of the tough times we are going through now and the even tougher times that lie ahead as inflationary pressures intensify. sustained monetary and credit expansion have compounded these pressures. broad money and private sector credit have been accelerating, almost doubling their rate of growth. credit to the private sector increased by 22 per cent during the fiscal year 2007 / 08, compared with 12 per cent last year : broad money supply expanded by a hefty 17 per cent, as against an increase of 8. 6 per cent in the fiscal year 2006 / 07. headline inflation has climbed to 9. 1 per cent in july 2008, while the year - onyear inflation, has crossed into double digits to stand at 11. 5 per cent at the end of july 2008. how i wish i had been wrong when i forecast precisely this kind of outcome two months ago! at this present juncture, we at the central bank have been examining the various options available at hand. here, i feel i must preface what i am going to say by pointing out that i was actually looking forward to abolish the cash reserve ratio. such a step would level the playing field between domestic and offshore banks, or more precisely in our jargon between segment a and segment b activities of banks. it would enhance our status as an international financial centre. it would naturally have to be preceded by other measures relating to depositor protection and prudential requirements. these are all issues that we have on the drawing board. i still hope to be able to implement them on my watch. but they are not to be ….. not just yet. we have to put them on the back burner. we have other, more urgent, fish to fry. we cannot allow an inflationary psychology to take hold. we must protect the purchasing power of the people. much as we would have liked to avoid it, we seem to have very little option than to raise the