emotional distress. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches globally, what's making it even more concerning is the rise of " synthetic identity fraud, " where criminals stitch together bits of real information from various individuals to create entirely fake identities. this makes impersonation easier and allows attackers to bypass security measures to detect suspicious activity. with ato cases on the rise, staying vigilant and practising strong cybersecurity is crucial. consider using multi - factor authentication and avoiding sharing personal information online to protect yourself. machine learning, generative ai, predictive analytics, and other advanced technologies empower businesses with speed and intelligence. however, their proliferation also offers opportunities for fraudsters. unfortunately, malicious actors utilise these tools to their advantage. for instance, scammers leverage chatgpt to craft phishing emails that mimic the professionalism of legitimate businesses, enabling individuals without coding expertise to engage in hacking activities by generating functional malware. last year, in response to the escalating threat of fraud within the digital financial landscape, a forum convened by stanbic bank identified the necessity of a collaborative approach. participants from the banking industry unanimously agreed to establish a fraud - sharing platform aimed at exchanging information and implementing best practices for fraud management. i am pleased this resolution has materialised with the platform's launch today. if customers lose faith in banks'ability to safeguard their hard - earned life savings, where can they turn to? as pillars of the economy, we simply cannot allow fraud to erode public trust in the banking system. this is not just about profits or numbers - it is about upholding a social contract and protecting the financial well - being of millions of ugandans. we must educate citizens on emerging digital threats ; we must enforce oversight mechanisms to high standards ; we must collaborate between banks to track everevolving fraud types. and most crucially, we must lead by example - holding ourselves up to the highest benchmarks of transparency, integrity, and accountability. leaders should demonstrate integrity through their own actions and ensure accountability at all levels of the organisation. they must create an ethical culture where employees feel psychologically safe to question practices or report suspected misconduct without risk of retaliation. effective " speak - up " arrangements and whistleblower protections empower people to voice concerns so issues can surface early before harm is done. ultimately, leadership behaviour sets the tone - if we want ethical business conduct, it starts with those at the top walking the talk. 2

##nctly by the former deputy governor of the south african reserve bank who wrote that : “... higher interest rates will not help to make the maize crop grow higher ”. the forward looking nature of monetary policy why does the bou frame its policy target for inflation in terms of the medium term? consumer prices, even when excluding volatile commodity prices, are subject to shocks from both the demand and supply side of the economy ; for example, movements in the nominal exchange rate have an impact on the domestic prices of imported goods. these shocks can operate over a much shorter horizon than that of the transmission mechanism of monetary policy. the transmission mechanism of monetary policy normally extends over a period of one to two years. what monetary policy can feasibly achieve is to control average inflation over a longer term time horizon, which is why we have defined our inflation target as a medium term target. the medium term time horizon over which the transmission mechanism of monetary policy operates mean that monetary policy decisions must be made on the basis of a forecast of future developments in the economy. current or past developments, such as the latest available inflation outturn, are only relevant to the monetary policy decision to the extent that they provide useful information about future developments, which may not be very relevant at all. this entails a qualitative shift in the way in which policy makers think about the economy and make decisions, to embrace a forward looking approach. inflation forecasts spanning the time horizon of the monetary policy transmission mechanism are the most important inputs for monetary policy decisions in an itl framework. inflation forecasts need to include both forecasts derived from quantitative models and qualitative judgements about how the factors which influence inflation, such as fiscal policy and the exchange rate, will evolve over the medium term. policymakers also need to think in terms of probabilities and risks ; for example, what is the probability that aggregate demand growth will accelerate over the forecast horizon? and given this probability, do we need to take action to forestall a rise in inflationary pressures? bis central bankers ’ speeches the role of the exchange rate policy towards the exchange rate is one of the most difficult and challenging aspects of implementing an itl monetary policy framework in a low income open economy. both the bou ’ s primary and secondary policy monetary policy objectives are domestic objectives : inflation and output stabilization respectively. the policy interest rate is only used to influence these two objectives. but that does not mean that policy makers can be indifferent to the level