move that won me the title of “ the most surprising governor in the world ” according to one of the international news wires. later on we had prepared to use unconventional policy tools, an option that eventually we decided not to use in light of the solid growth, healthy developments in the labor market, and the assessment that the low inflation was not reflecting weakness of demand but rather, at least in 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches part, the result of positive processes such as the intensifying of competition. during this period we have also introduced some changes to the mp communication strategy : for example, we launched a quarterly press briefing following rate decisions, and made use of forward guidance. we have also made use of fx intervention, in times mildly, and in times intensively, according to our assessment of the nature of fx fluctuations. each policy decision followed a very thorough and deep discussion, and although many times the debate got heated, and sometimes disagreements arose, i was always sure that every member of the mpc had only the best interest of the israeli economy in his or her mind. now, following almost 4 years of keeping the interest rate at 0. 1 %, it seems as if the era of gradual normalization is approaching. i can already visualize the heated debates that are likely to take place within the monetary committee as to the exact pace and path that this process will take. the committee ’ s challenge will be to move not too fast, so as not to choke the process of entrenchment of the inflation environment within its target range ; and not too slow so as not to find themselves behind the curve. i assure you i will be watching this process closely with great interest. let me now thank the organizers michel and nadine, for initiating and organizing this excellent conference, and thank all the presenters from the boi as well as our distinguished guests, who came from far away. thank you for the very kind words you said, i am moved and honored by all of this. and thank you all for coming. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

, where elevated inflation has necessitated higher interest rates. while the domestic labour market also continues to recover gradually, an environment of weak growth implies that we may start seeing renewed job losses. furthermore, while nominal wages have shown a recovery, real incomes, however, remain constrained. nonetheless, we do expect household spending to remain supportive of the little growth that is projected for the year. this view is also corroborated by today's gdp report, which continued to show positive growth in household consumption. furthermore, although having moderated over recent quarters, growth in fixed investment showed some recovery in q4 and is also expected to contribute positively going into 2023. from this it is clear that the outlook for even the relatively low growth rates we project over the medium term, remains highly uncertain – in light of our own domestic constraints. the outlook also hinges on how quickly south africa's structural constraints can be addressed over the medium term. from an external accounts'perspective, south africa has benefitted from the generally high commodity prices that have prevailed over the past two years. these, however, have been moderating since the second half of 2022, in line with the slowdown in global growth, with further declines in south africa's commodity export prices expected in 2023. while the reopening of the chinese economy led to renewed strength for key commodities such as iron ore, platinum, copper and steel at the beginning of the year, this may not be sustained. the recovery in china's economy should mostly be led by services, while the commodity - intensive construction sector is unlikely to rebound at a fast pace. 3 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches at the same time, the persistence of domestic electricity supply constraints implies that more businesses and households may be investing in alternative energy solutions, thereby driving up imports. this, balanced against projections of lower export volumes, equates to a deteriorated current account balance over the short to medium term. the role of the financial channel financial markets are another channel through which global conditions affect south africa. global growth, inflation and the pace of policy normalisation in advanced economies affect investor risk appetite, cross - border capital flows and, hence, the availability and cost of external funding. so far, considering the pace of policy normalisation in major economies and the extent to which'safe assets'have re - priced, the shock has not been strong by historical standards. capital outflows from emerging markets were moderate for most of 2022 and recovered in