technology infrastructure is critical to the functioning of the sarb. the rapid changes in how we use and process information affect every facet of our work. the proactive management of the sarb ’ s networks and systems has ensured that mission - critical business applications have remained up and running 99. 9 % of the time over the past year. our systems ’ resilience has been enhanced by, among other initiatives, the redesign of our data centres and network modernisation. we are also working to build a workforce of the future, strengthening our cyber team to build local and regional resilience to cyber incidents. page 9 of 11 our commitment to serving the economic well - being of all south africans is also evidenced in our corporate social investment programme, which focuses primarily on education. at the heart of this work is our external bursary programme, which aims to develop human capital in the fields of monetary policy, financial stability, data science and economic journalism. in 2023, the sarb sponsored 110 students : 63 continuing bursars, 35 first - year bursars and 12 students studying towards their master ’ s degree in data science. eighty six percent are from previously disadvantaged backgrounds and 63 % are female. staff matters the importance of the sarb ’ s role in our economy demands the utmost from its staff members. without their commitment and expertise, this central bank would not be able to achieve its strategic objectives or deliver on its mandate. to ensure that staff continue developing their professional skills, the sarb ’ s spend on training increased to almost 6 % of total payroll in the 2023 / 24 financial year. more than half of the employees that received training ( 56 % ) were women. diverse organisations which reflect the societies they operate in are typically more successful. having rolled out the third phase of its diversity and inclusion ( d & i ) programme, the sarb has incorporated a d & i accountability framework into its performance scorecard, ensuring it is embedding d & i into all that we do. at the same time, our staff experience is being steadily improved through the digitalisation of our people management systems. conclusion the year ahead will throw new challenges the sarb ’ s way. our international activities will receive particular focus as south africa takes up the g20 presidency. together with national treasury, the sarb is gearing up to co - chair the finance track from page 10 of 11 december 2024. it will focus on, among other issues, global macroeconomic matters,

would be in a position today to issue long - term, fixed - rate, peso - denominated bonds at such narrow spreads over u. s. treasuries? fiscal policy is also important. governments must behave in a fiscally responsible manner. that doesn't mean that the books must be perfectly balanced each and every year. but it does mean that governments must maintain, and be committed to maintaining, a manageable debt - to - gdp ratio and avoid running up debt that will tie the hands of future governments. conclusion let me conclude by going back to where i started my remarks. i have spoken about how a liberalized, global trade and financial order is important for promoting economic growth and prosperity. and i have focused on the importance of a floating exchange rate regime, which is a key element in promoting good performance, both domestically and globally. for systemically important countries, we should be promoting floating rates supported by well - developed and well - functioning domestic financial markets. but it has to be acknowledged that it can take some time for emerging - market economies to put these well - developed markets in place. and along the way, some management of capital flows and a degree of intervention in foreign exchange markets may be needed, in these economies. these capital controls and foreign exchange interventions are awkward, and over time, they can lead to a lot of problems. so they must be eliminated as quickly as possible. but, to the extent that countries are making progress towards more flexible exchange rate regimes, those of us with well - developed markets already in place will have to have some tolerance for this awkwardness. and those of you in the aci will have to continue to trade in this somewhat awkward environment. in the meantime, i can say that we at the bank of canada will be doing all that we can to provide assistance and to persuade countries in transition to move as rapidly as possible, to facilitate the desired convergence.