yves mersch : behaving responsibly in a low interest rate environment - a central banker's perspective speech by mr yves mersch, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the stiftung marktwirtschaft : expertentagung " 5th kadener gesprach ", alveslohe, 10 february 2017. * * * the policy of the european central bank ( ecb ) is often said to be at the root of the current problems in the banking and financial sector. particularly in germany, there ’ s the added accusation of monetary policy “ expropriating ” savers. a closer look quickly reveals that such hasty judgements fail to appreciate the complexity of the matter. today, therefore, i shall examine carefully the underlying reasons for our monetary policy action. by focusing on the reasons for our actions we can understand more easily how to get back to a normalisation of monetary policy. low natural interest rates why are interest rates so low? the growth trend has been declining in many mature economies not just since the crisis, but for several decades. this slowdown in growth has led to lower long - term interest rates. the structural causes of this trend of slowing growth is a subject of controversy among specialists. demographic and technological developments are mentioned, as are the effects of the financial cycle, which may be out of sync with the business cycles. i do not want to pre - empt this ongoing discussion. instead, i would like to focus on two issues, which in the current context are very relevant from a monetary policy perspective – regardless of the structural causes underlying the weak economic growth. first, the slowdown in growth in this environment increased the risk of a self - reinforcing downward spiral. for the weak growth dynamics will not go unnoticed by economic actors : their expectations are worsening. if, for instance, a company expects demand to fall, it will be less inclined to make big investments. secondly, ageing societies, which exist in many mature economies, not only have to cope with a shrinking labour force, but they also have to save more. this has led to a savings glut and to a shortage of safe assets. so investments are falling and savings are rising. this weakness of investment is further reinforced when public authorities invest less than is even needed to preserve the capital stock. this is a cause for concern especially where both fiscal space and demand exist. this dynamic has led to a reduction in the

barry whiteside : financial literacy speaking notes for mr barry whiteside, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, at the launch of the financial literacy mascot, suva, 19 august 2011. * * * good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, members of the media and fellow staff of the bank, tomorrow marks the opening of the hibiscus festival, and the beginning of the school holidays for our students and teachers around fiji. an enjoyable time for many! this saturday at the rbf hibiscus microfinance village, the official mascot for financial literacy will be making his debut in suva. we have invited you here this afternoon to get a sneak preview, and to seek your support for a very important initiative that is aimed at lifting financial literacy levels in our communities in fiji. financial literacy, ladies and gentlemen, is a life skill that is needed by everyone – some of us may be better at it than others. financial literacy is the ability and understanding that we all need so that we make the best decisions when it comes to managing our money. we believe that if everyone has access to some form of financial education, they are more likely to make better financial choices. developing this a little further, we need to share and talk more often with our children, our families and friends and get a better understanding of the little things we can do to improve our own money management skills. these include such things as planning and budgeting, saving and investing for the medium and longer term, retirement planning and last, but by no means the least, managing our debts. this year the financial literacy working group has once again taken the opportunity to raise public awareness on the importance and need for financial literacy for all our people. the financial literacy working group, ladies and gentlemen, is one of three working groups that report to the national financial inclusion taskforce. these groups, working under the banner of the taskforce, are made up of representatives from the public and private sectors, ngos and various donor agencies. they represent stakeholders working in partnership to ensure that everyone in fiji has access to appropriate financial services and products that they need. coming back to the financial literacy working group, i must say they are all a passionate lot, ably led by mr. narasimhan krishnan. the group has been tasked with three important goals over the next few years. these are : 1. to develop a national strategy towards financial literacy – this would first require a stock - take and assessment of current financial literacy programs out there