our rupee which could appreciate on the back of a weakening dollar. the problems confronting the euro area still persist. china is having problems with inflation, and it is currently having recourse to outsourcing to vietnam and cambodia. so, internationally, there are major concerns. despite this, the general view is that during the second quarter, the situation will improve and there will be recovery at the global level. there are concerns over food and commodity prices, as well as energy prices. you are probably aware that at the last opec meeting, no consensus was reached to increase production. and if demand in the global economy is too high and oil production does not increase, it may result in a hike in oil prices. the good thing is that saudi arabia has indicated its intention to continue to increase production unilaterally. if the global recovery for the second quarter is much stronger than the first quarter, there is a risk that food and commodity prices start going up again – we must be prepared for a further increase in food and commodity prices. a positive note was that, when the fao index rose, there was no corresponding increase in the prices of the foodstuffs that mauritians tend to consume, namely, dairy products, cereals and rice. but if there is recovery, there is a risk that food and commodity prices and oil prices might go up again – which will represent a new source of inflation for us. this brings us to the need of exercising control over rising prices in mauritius – we welcome government ’ s initiative to set up l ’ observatoire des prix. this is an excellent initiative indeed. but l ’ observatoire des prix alone will not solve the problem of rising prices. it is a tool among many others, just like monetary policy is a tool among many others. in the case of l ’ observatoire des prix, it must be supported by greater efforts geared towards making changes in the consumption pattern of people and those that determine prices, in other words, changes in consumer behaviour and price - setting behaviour. the two must go together, otherwise l ’ observatoire des prix would not contribute towards keeping inflation at reasonable rates. we hope that l ’ association des consommateurs and other efforts in the field of financial education would lead to changes in consumption patterns through better informed consumers. some people have expressed concern that there might be in mauritius what is called stagflation. stagflation had made the

yandraduth googoolye : how african countries can play an active role in the belt and road initiative remarks by mr yandraduth googoolye, governor of the bank of mauritius, at the financial connectivity thematic forum on " how african countries can play an active role in the belt and road initiative ", beijing, 25 april 2019. * * * excellencies good morning and thank you for giving me the opportunity to address such an eminent audience. last october, at the official opening of the belt and road international financial exchange and cooperation seminar organised by the bank of china, i had stressed on africa ’ s eagerness to be part of china ’ s vision to enhance cooperation and connectivity among countries that will be part of the belt and road initiative. africa is endowed with considerable human capital, millions of acres of arable land and a myriad of natural resources. therefore, ladies and gentlemen, the combination of china ’ s capital, technology, market, enterprises, talents and experiences and africa ’ s abundant resources, huge demographic dividend and great market potential should create economic wonders. testimony to africa ’ s willingness to support the belt and road initiative is member states of the african union endorsement of “ agenda 2063 : the africa we want ”, a roadmap for structural economic transformation over a fifty - year time scale. whilst the initiative will undoubtedly enable a smooth flow of goods and services against efficient mechanisms of payment flows, africa must also see to it that adequate and timely resources are geared towards the modernization of financial market infrastructures as well as to the opening and promotion of free trade areas. these will be instrumental in supporting the expansion of the trade corridor between china and africa and in upholding cross - border e - commerce. ladies and gentlemen, a key target of the initiative rests on financial integration and cooperation. besides enhancing financial regulation cooperation, it will increase the scope and scale of bilateral currency swaps and settlements as well as the issuance of bonds in chinese yuan. it is, therefore, to the advantage of countries across africa to encourage commercial equity investment funds and private funds to participate fully in the construction of key projects stemming from the belt and road initiative. the initiative will also push forth an additional currency of choice and set the rmb among the reserve currencies for african countries. a currency that can be used, not only for trade between africa and china, but also for intra - african commercial flows. african central banks and other regulatory entities must fully embrace the crucial