it helps to improve economic growth. while the primary responsibility for avoiding the build - up of unsustainable debt lies with the borrower, creditors also have a role to play in encouraging greater transparency. irresponsible borrowing ultimately contributes to unsustainable debt burdens. in closing, i wish to reiterate that public debt has an important role to play in financing development, particularly in augmenting government budgets. however, it should be clear that debt is not a replacement for domestic revenue mobilisation. meanwhile, debt levels have to remain sustainable so as to not undermine market confidence. to ensure that debt plays a meaningful role, it must be utilised for revenue generating activities that increase the productive capacity of the economy. countries in the region could benefit from the slower - than - expected monetary policy normalisation in major economies to build additional buffers, preferably aimed at increasing fiscal space and setting development priorities on course. the international community is eager to help. early in may, the g20 called a high - level conference on 4 mustapha s. and prizzon a., “ africa ’ s rising debt – how to avoid a new crisis ”, october 2018 5 in madagascar, for instance, large subsidies and transfers to troubled state - owned enterprises ( soes ) such as the electricity utility jirama and air madagascar to cover debt obligations have increased government liabilities. the imf, in its 2018 article iv assessment, highlighted that unexpected losses at soes or delayed reforms in public spending could crowd out pro - growth priority spending in madagascar. in ghana, the government also faces significant contingent liabilities from the energy soes, which continue to face challenges. page 3 of 4 sustainable debt for sustainable growth ( the paris forum ). the key objective is to assist countries with debt management capacity and improve debt transparency. the key conclusion of the paris forum was not to say that countries should borrow less but that they should be assisted to “ borrow smarter ”, by ensuring that borrowers are equipped with expertise to understand their real needs, to secure good terms and to effectively manage their debt, while holding creditors to higher standards on transparency and sustainability. i also want to take this opportunity to congratulate the aerc for continuing to have a policy - oriented research programme that remains relevant for policy makers. today ’ s programme is filled with the right mix of policy practitioners and academics to give us for food for thought. thank you page 4 of 4

, after which this function, given that it relates to market conduct, will likely be transferred to the market conduct regulator. since the libor scandal, many institutions ( including the monetary authority of singapore, the european security and markets authority, the european banking authority, and the bank for international settlements ) have undertaken reviews of their reference rates and fmd continued to monitor these reviews and recommendations for relevance to our endeavours regarding the publication of credible reference rates. currently, the mms is working on a review of the south african benchmark overnight rate on deposits ( sabor ) and will report back to the fmlg its findings and recommendations. this work will feed into another project being undertaken by the fixed income & derivatives subcommittee of the fmlg, namely, the development of the south african overnight index swap1 ( rand ois ). a well - developed rand ois market would have many risk management benefits. market participants predominantly use the ois market for hedging activities, to hedge either their funding costs or their exposure to short - term interest rate movements, and to alter the term structure of a portfolio. the fixed - rate portion is also used by some market participants to derive market expectations of the bank ’ s future policy rate changes. this work will culminate in an industry - wide consultation to deliberate on the format of a rand ois an interest rate swap involving the floating rate being exchanged for a fixed interest rate. an overnight index swap is a particular form of interest rate swap, whereby parties agree to swap a floating interest rate – based on compounded overnight interest rates ( eg eonia, sonia ) – for a fixed interest rate ( ie, the ois rate ). the overnight index is considered to be a good indicator of the interbank credit markets, and less risky than other traditional interest rate spreads. bis central bankers ’ speeches product that would enable south africa to be on par with its developed market peers, and to be part of a handful of emerging markets to deliver a more sound derivatives pricing and risk management landscape. the central banks of most jurisdictions play a key role in the collation of information and the publication of the overnight reference rates, which are subsequently used in the ois markets and in other money - market indices. much work still has to be done to develop a fully - fledged rand ois market, but the working group is making good progress. the foreign exchange subcommittee has embarked on a project to formalise a rand fixing at prescribed intervals during trading