all those aspiring to gain access into the middle class. for an economy or any society to thrive one would need to acknowledge and redress both economic and political inequality. measures of economic equality include, among other things, growth in gross domestic product per capita and a reduction in unemployment. the world bank defined sustainable economic development as a situation under which extreme poverty is reduced to such an extent that the number of people making a living on less than us $ 1, 25 per day will eventually be lowered to less than 3 per cent of the total global population by 2030. furthermore, prosperity should be promoted by improving the living standards of the bottom 40 per cent of the population in all countries. the latest world bank report indicates that growth in per capita income has taken place during the past decade, more specifically in the african region. progress made is apparent in the world ’ s middle north, d. c ( 1993 ) “ economic performance through time ” prize lecture in economic sciences in memory of alfred nobel, december 9, 1993. bis central bankers ’ speeches class, which is showing steady growth. according to organisation for economic co - operation and development ( oecd ) estimates, five billion people would have moved into the middle class, with about two - thirds residing in asia, followed by the middle east, africa and latin america. the shift towards the middle class is therefore expected to occur mostly in emerging markets, which supports the objective of inclusive growth. the south african institute of race relations estimates that the south african middle class realistically constitutes around 10 per cent of the total population. efforts to expand and grow this number may, however, come under strain unless the south african growth trajectory can be lifted to the 5 per cent target set in the national development plan. to judge the progressiveness of countries, from which lessons can be learnt, it is prudent to construct a continuum, from non - progressive countries on the one side to progressive countries on the other. consistent with such an approach, the imf expressed an opinion on the status of economies that could be used to place them on such a continuum, while also indicating what is required for these countries to become progressive. it is worth noting that countries such as canada and singapore were rated as countries with solid growth, whilst mexico has been acknowledged for undertaking significant structural reforms. bolivia, interestingly has seen per capita income tripling over the past couple of years whilst namibia has grown strongly. poland is demonstrating that its macroeconomic policies are proving to be highly

in the first quarter. consumers also remained optimistic about the prospects for the economy as a whole, although they were still somewhat reluctant to commit to the purchase of durable goods. current developments in enhancing the strength of the financial regulatory environment include the publication of the companies amendment bill, with the purpose of improving the administration and effectiveness of the companies act ; the south african reserve bank amendment act to enhance the bank ’ s governance framework and to uphold its public interest role ; and the proposed draft banks amendment bill, taking into account new international best practices and standards as issued by the basel committee on bank supervision, and to align the provisions of the existing banks act with the new companies act. in addition to international efforts to strengthen the overall robustness of the regulatory environment, some countries have responded by reforming national regulatory systems. these reforms include the extension of central banks ’ powers with regard to supervision, market conduct and consumer protection ; the provision of more appropriate structures and policy instruments to assess and mitigate “ systemic risks ” ; the need to address the “ too - bigto - fail ” moral hazard problems associated with systemically important financial institutions ; and the need to close the regulatory gaps that were prevalent in the build - up to the financial crisis. although some countries are proceeding with regulatory changes, a degree of international convergence around a common international framework is needed. i have briefly highlighted the key issues raised in the financial stability review. more detailed analyses are available in the publication itself, and will be highlighted by the authors ’ presentations. i trust that you will find these interesting, stimulating and relevant to the current environment and invite you to provide comment as part of the important process of ongoing debate on financial stability. thank you.