jorg asmussen : the eurozone and japan – the way forward intervention by mr jorg asmussen, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the 2012 annual meetings of the imf and world bank group, tokyo, 12 october 2012. * * * ladies and gentleman, it is a pleasure to take part in this discussion today, and in particular to join the company of such a distinguished panel of european and japanese colleagues. with events moving so fast in the euro area – and in ways that are often confusing for outsiders – getting out and speaking to investors around the world is more necessary than ever. so let me also extend my thanks to juergen fitschen and deutsche bank for organising this very useful event. as time is short, i would like to begin my intervention by jumping straight into the three questions that are the focus of this panel today. • how to return to sustainable debt levels in the euro area? • how to deal with intra - euro area competitiveness imbalances? • where does the euro area go from here? how to return to sustainable debt levels in the euro area? turning to the first question : how to return to sustainable debt levels in the euro area? debt sustainability in the euro area is being questioned for two reasons. the first reason is that some investors are afraid of destructive scenarios that could lead to default or, in the extreme, exit from the euro. as a result, they are forcing some countries to pay risk premia that are not fully justified by underlying fundamentals, making those destructive scenarios self - fulfilling. but this aspect of debt sustainability can be addressed by simply changing perceptions. here, the ecb ’ s recent announcement of outright monetary transactions should play a supportive role. it provides a credible backstop for tail risks and confirms that the euro is irreversible. the second reason debt sustainability is being questioned is that certain euro area countries have debt levels that are too high, or on a sharply rising trajectory. this is more complex to deal with. inflating away the debt burden is not an option in the euro area. so member states have to take policy actions to redress public finances. but the evidence suggests it can be done. to stabilise debt levels, the euro area already has a benchmark a new debt reduction rule agreed as part of reforms to fiscal governance. observing it will be difficult for some countries. but they have made similar adjustments in the past. many ran fiscal surpluses for

njuguna ndung ’ u : the importance of the banking sector in the kenyan economy remarks by prof njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the bank of india, kenya branch, diamond jubilee celebrations, nairobi, 12 april 2013. * * * mrs. v. r. iyer, the chairperson and managing director of bank of india ; dr. manu chandaria, chairman, bank of india local advisory committee ; mr. r. k. verma, chief executive, bank of india, kenya ; the local advisory committee members ; management and staff of bank of india, kenya ; distinguished guests ; ladies and gentlemen : i am delighted to join you on this auspicious occasion to celebrate the diamond jubilee of bank of india ’ s operations in kenya. as the regulator for the banking sector, central bank is pleased to be associated with the achievements of the banks we regulate, particularly where these developments lead to increased access to banking services for the kenyan public. in this regard, bank of india, kenya certainly has made its mark on the kenyan market. ladies and gentlemen : bank of india, kenya branch, was established in mombasa in 1953, it has four branches. with regard to its performance, i note that as at february 2013, the bank had a total asset base of ksh. 27 billion. net loans and advances stood at ksh. 11. 5 billion while customer deposits were ksh. 20. 8 billion, supported by a core capital base of ksh. 3. 9 billion. the bank returned a profit before tax of ksh. 568. 4 million for the year ended december 2012. this impressive performance of bank of india is consistent with the continued commendable performance of kenya ’ s banking industry. ladies and gentlemen : the banking sector and the totality of the financial sector is very important to the economy. let me share with you some key highlights of the banking industry ’ s performance for the last 10 years that is the period 2002 to december 2012 to consolidate the importance of the banking sector in the kenyan economy : • assets grew from ksh. 456. 7 billion to ksh. 2. 35 trillion ; • total deposits grew from ksh. 360. 6 billion to ksh. 1. 76 trillion. • net advances increased from ksh. 222. 8 billion to ksh. 1. 27 trillion, • profit before tax of ksh. 5. 8