suggest that e - commerce is depressing inflation in the euro area today – at least to extent that we can measure it. 9 the same is true for “ global slack ”. 10 in fact, as the global economy recovers, the foreign output gap is moving in the same direction as the euro area output gap. 11 in sum, we are not yet at a point where the recovery of inflation can be self - sustained without our accommodative policy. a key motor of the recovery remains the very favourable financing conditions facing firms and households, which are in turn heavily contingent on our policy measures. an ample degree of monetary stimulus remains necessary for underlying inflation pressures to build up and support headline inflation over the medium term. this is reflected in the monetary policy decisions that we took last month. these aim to signal 3 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches our growing confidence in the euro area economy, while also acknowledging that we must be patient and persistent for inflation to return sustainably to our objective. we decided to reduce the pace of our monthly asset purchases from €60 billion to €30 billion, while extending the horizon of those purchases until end of september 2018, or beyond, if necessary, and in any case until we see a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation. this recalibration of our asset purchases, supported by the sizeable stock of acquired assets and the forthcoming reinvestments, and by our forward guidance on interest rates, helps to maintain the necessary degree of accommodation and thereby to accompany the economic recovery in an appropriate way. in this sense, the recent decisions follow the same logic as those in december last year when we reduced the pace of purchases from €80 billion to €60 billion. our monetary policy influences long - term yields through both its main components : by compressing the term premium, and by anchoring the expected path of policy rates in the future. by accumulating a portfolio of long - duration assets, the central bank can compress term premia by extracting duration risk from private investors. via this “ duration extraction ” effect, the central bank frees up risk bearing capacity in markets, spurs a rebalancing of private portfolios toward the remaining securities, and thus lowers term premia and yields across a range of financial assets. in the past, since the crisis had heightened risk perceptions, the eurosystem had to purchase very sizeable amounts per month to foster a certain impact on the term premium and on longterm yields

have negative implications on the industry image and the bank, including creating opportunities for “ rent seeking ” and corrupt practices. this has tended to create a screen between the licensing authority and potential investors in this market. c ) licensing procedures : on licensing of new bureaus, you note that the bank has introduced new licensing procedures that involve a two stage process, which include : i ) ii ) in the first stage, applicants are expected to submit application documents including : • certified copy of certificate of incorporation and memorandum and articles of association ; • a feasibility study of the proposed forex bureau ; • particulars and “ fit and proper forms ” of proposed shareholders and directors ; • declaration and confirmation that no shareholder and / or director has a similar position or role in any other forex bureau in kenya ; and • provide evidence of non - interest bearing deposit of us $ 30, 000 and core capital of us $ 30, 000. in the second stage, the central bank will issue a letter of intent to prospective bureaus to enable them commit funds by paying the requisite fees and deposits, and prepare premises for inspection before issuance of licence and approval to commence operations. the central bank has cleaned up the process and i do promise you an efficient licensing procedure. d ) compliance : let me take this opportunity to once again urge the industry to ensure that they have sound and effective internal control and management information systems to enable prompt and accurate submission of returns. 6. in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, let me take this opportunity to invite the industry association chairman / representative to make some remarks. thereafter, we shall have a short discussion on industry concerns. i also urge you to continue to work together with my staff in development of the industry and in seeking solutions to the various challenges that will arise from time to time. thank you.