- food commodity exporters, as well as those that have strong manufactured export markets in the advanced economies. there is also some evidence that tightness in bank lending in europe may be impacting on the cost and availability of trade financing as well, putting further pressure on trade. emerging markets are also being affected by the volatile risk perceptions in global financial markets and associated capital flows. in 2009 / 10, emerging markets were faced with strong capital inflows from advanced economies in search of yield. however, since the intensification of the eurozone crisis in august 2011, the so - called risk - off scenarios have become dominant. during bouts of risk aversion, the overriding concern becomes security rather than yield, and investors are prepared to pay for such security as seen in the recent negative bond yields in germany and the negative interest rates on bank accounts in switzerland. as capital has moved to safe havens, a number of emerging market currencies, including those of mexico and brazil, have depreciated significantly. this will not provide a strong stimulus to export growth if the demand is not forthcoming, but may have inflationary consequences, which may limit monetary policy flexibility. for this reason some emerging market economies have intervened to prevent excessive depreciations. increased intraregional trade has been an important contributor to the resilience of the asian economies. the recent emergence of sub - saharan africa as a significant growth region, with growth rates in excess of 5 per cent in the past 3 years, has been instrumental in helping cushion south african exports from the global crisis. in 2007, 36 per cent of south africa ’ s manufactured exports went to europe, while 24 per cent went to africa. in 2011, 29 per cent went to europe and 34 per cent to africa. apart from direct trade, there has also been increased penetration of africa by south african companies, particularly in the retail, construction and banking sectors, facilitated in part by more generous exchange control allowances for investment into the continent. some of the reasons for the recent resilience of regional growth, highlighted by the imf, include the fact that financial systems in africa are relatively insulated from global financial developments with banks obtaining funds from domestic deposit bases rather than external bis central bankers ’ speeches sources ; increased infrastructural expenditure ; improved macroeconomic policy frameworks during the 2000s ; fiscal policies generally being supportive of growth since 2009, with average fiscal deficits increasing by three percentage points in that year, with

solvency ii : striking the balance − speech by sam woods given at bank of england webinar published on 08 july 2022 sam woods talks about reforms to the regulation of insurance providers. he says the key aims of the reforms are to make the insurance sector work better for the uk economy and to safeguard policyholders. speech introduction the uk ’ s post - brexit review of insurance regulation is entering a critical phase, with important decisions shortly to come for us, government and parliament. with that in mind i thought it would be useful to highlight some of the key points from the prudential regulation authority ’ s ( pra ’ s ) perspective, while hm treasury ’ s current consultation on solvency ii is ongoing, with a particular focus on the main point of contention between us and parts of the industry. my main message is this. following brexit we have a once - in - a - generation opportunity to reshape insurance regulation to work better for the uk. we can do this while loosening parts of the regime which were over - calibrated by the eu and making it easier for insurers to invest in a wider range of assets, but we also need to strengthen it in one area in order to avoid risks to the millions of current and future pensioners who rely on insurers for their retirement income. the combined effect of these changes should support the government ’ s objectives for competitiveness, growth and investment in the economy. overview following our exit from the eu, we have been examining the main bit of prudential insurance regulation ( solvency ii ) to see how it can be tailored to work better for the uk, working with the treasury. [ 1 ] the treasury has set three objectives for the review, which we support : a competitive insurance sector, investment to support growth and policyholder protection. while the details of the review can appear technical and abstract, the stakes are real. a stable insurance sector backstops the livelihoods of millions of policyholders, in particular current and future pensioners who rely on insurers for their retirement incomes. the insurance sector is also a major part of the wider financial sector, and an important source of finance for the real economy including productive and green investment. brexit gives us an opportunity to rewrite the insurance regulations we inherited from the eu – and in doing so help drive further investment in the economy. but we need to be clear that this is not a free lunch. if changes simply loosen