, is to maintain the stability of the florin, promote financial soundness and integrity of the financial system, and facilitate reliable payment systems. while our monetary mandate remains unchanged for almost 40 years, the global context in which we operate, has shifted and transformed in epic proportions. moving away from credit ceilings, by 2010, we introduced the reserve requirement as one of our main monetary policy tools, and the monetary policy committee was formally introduced, bringing also the needed transparency regarding the decisions made in this important committee. i am happy to note that, despite the many headwinds and changes in the economic climate, currently our international reserves are also adequate in terms of the imf recommendations of 4to - 6 months import coverage, accounting for natural disasters. in 2016, we launched our first strategic plan called “ bela yen ”, meaning full steam ahead. by 2018, we design an initial financial stability framework, we produced an extensive policy report on fostering economic resilience of aruba, emphasizing the vulnerabilities of our small, open, naturebased economy, as well as the need for strengthening our adaptative capacity and resiliency as a country, especially in terms of “ bouncing forward ” after a major crisis. and this was two years prior to the covid pandemic. during that same period, many of you might remember that you were present at cba conference on “ safeguarding our future ” where we, including the imf, explored and discussed the many strategies for an aruban circular economy. during 2021, in a post - pandemic time, we set out our second strategic plan “ dilanti biento ”, meaning staying ahead and pushing for a forward - thinking vision and strategy. it ushered a new conviction and journey that our mandate was fundamental to our purpose, namely to “ contribute meaningfully and significantly to enabling the resilience of our community, environment, and economy ”. part of this contribution is the publication by our research department “ govern from the future ” and “ lead with impact ”, comprising various interesting topics, including climate change, that still resonate today, and are highly relevant for aruba ’ s sustainable development. in 2023, several of these topics and themes were emphasized by the imf in aruba ’ s article iv mission. two of which, financial stability and climate change, are well noted in the imf report. and i will tell you, having just recently returned from the imf and world bank

ian macfarlane : statement to house of representatives standing committee on economics, finance and public administration opening statement by mr ij macfarlane, governor of the reserve bank of australia, to the house of representatives standing committee on economics, finance and public administration, melbourne, 11 may 2001. * * * mr chairman, a lot has happened in the economy since we last met in wagga wagga at the beginning of december. this has resulted in a significant shift in the stance of monetary policy. i think i owe it to the committee to give a full account of these developments and the thinking behind our reactions. there were two major changes to the economic landscape that occurred shortly after we met in december. the first was that the outlook for the world economy changed rather sharply in a downward direction at the turn of the year. this was mainly a result of developments in the united states, but it was widespread enough to cause significant downward revisions to world growth prospects. the second major change was that it became apparent that the australian economy had been a lot weaker in the second half of 2000 than we had formerly thought. although this was information about a period that had by then passed, and was mainly due to a transitory factor, it had significant implications for the development of the economy in the period ahead. i would now like to explain these two developments more fully, then move on to our monetary policy reaction, before concluding with some comments on the current outlook. the slowdown in the us economy is something that had been widely expected for a few years, but the economy kept surprising everyone by powering ahead. almost six months ago, it became apparent that the slowdown was in process, and had the potential to be very pronounced. the united states had several economic imbalances that, fortunately, we do not have. their share prices were ( and still are ) very high by historical standards, there had been an investment boom in plant and equipment ( particularly it and telecommunications ) which was probably unsustainable, and the us dollar was high and rising. the us fed moved very quickly to lower interest rates. such action could not be expected to prevent a slowing in the economy, but it would reduce the chances of something more serious, such as a recession occurring. the first fed easing on 3 january was a clear recognition that the world business cycle had entered a new phase, and this had implications for all countries. we soon saw easings of monetary policy in canada, the united kingdom, new zealand,