banks on cross - border banking supervision and payment systems, continental training on issues relating to banking supervision and regulation, and the collection of data needed to support bank supervisory activities. closer to home, the sarb also engages with the central banks of lesotho, namibia and swaziland, who together with south africa are members of the cma. the central bank governors of the cma meet three times a year to discuss economic developments in their respective countries as well as other issues related to crossborder spillover effects among cma members. the exchange of information as well as the collaboration on research and other matters of mutual interest have proven extremely useful in assisting the cma countries to fulfil their respective obligations stipulated in the multilateral monetary agreement which governs the cma arrangement. conclusion the sarb remains committed to playing its role in the development of the region, the continent, and the global economy. in many instances, we do this in collaboration with our counterparts in your respective countries. tonight, we celebrate this cooperation, and we trust that our partnerships will only strengthen in the times ahead. in the spirit of this cooperation, i would like to invite you to approach the sarb through our international economic relations and policy department should you need an update on economic and / or monetary policy developments. page 6 of 7 thank you for honouring our invitation. please enjoy the rest of the evening. page 7 of 7

spending at home. other countries could also introduce more flexibility to the exchange rate of their currencies and allow relative prices to change. fiscal policy in some emerging markets can also stimulate domestic demand away from exports and toward more consumption at home. this is all well known but i think it bears repetition. before i conclude, i would like to present a quotation from a book about the history of the bank for international settlements in basle 10, when during one cold snowy december night in north carolina, the author woke up on a power failure which, in his words, took him back to the 19th century and he realized that we take for granted so many things in life and i quote : “ … the payments system is yet another example of a highly complex network technology. we take it for granted that our checks clear, atms instantly provide cash anywhere in the world, imports are paid for in the required currency, and the desired amount of liquidity is available to us any time at the lowest cost. in fact, we should marvel at the ordinarily smooth working of the international payments system rather than be surprised at its occasional malfunction... ” unquote. gardner, 1980. toniolo, 2005. clearly, the global crisis of the past two years is hardly an occasional malfunction. however, i would like to suggest that the bretton woods agreement and subsequent reforms did serve the global economy well since world war ii. furthermore, markets do work and even when they become dysfunctional, as we saw during the past 18 months or so, markets were sending a clear message for corrective action. of course the coordinated non - conventional measures taken by major central banks, in particular the federal reserve, the bank of england and the ecb, as well as action taken by governments, did save the global economy from a meltdown. the managing director of the imf suggested last spring that 1 / 3 of the effectiveness of stimulus measures was due to global coordination. those same measures taken individually may not have produced the same result. a quick review of all statements by ministers at the imf meetings last spring would reveal that the terms “ multilateralism ”, “ coordination ” and “ surveillance ” were the most frequently used terms. at least one minister called for “ compulsory multilateral coordinated surveillance ”. the ministers ’ remarks were reflected in the “ g - 20 framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth ” which emphasized the mutual assessment of members ’ monetary, exchange rate,