mervyn king : changes in the uk economy and the role the bank of england can play in supporting them speech by mr mervyn king, governor of the bank of england, at the black country chamber of commerce, west midlands, 19 october 2010. * * * ladies and gentlemen, it is good to be back in the heart of britain – in the black country – because the bank of england has strong connections with the area. both i and deputy governor paul tucker hail from wolverhampton. and i am delighted that all nine members of the bank ’ s monetary policy committee are in the west midlands this week on an mpc road - show to see for themselves the state of business in the region. the black country is the home of the original industrial revolution. too often those historic events are painted as just that – past glories of little relevance today. but there is no better place to see evidence of how the british economy can adapt than in the black country. indeed, one example can be found behind this building. dudley canal no. 1 was part of a network of canals, central to the industrial revolution, along which the products made here – especially iron and steel – were transported throughout the country. at its peak, there were 5, 000 miles of canals in britain. of course, the importance of canals as the arteries of industry later declined and by the late 1960s only 2, 775 miles were navigable. but the regeneration of urban communities, and the efforts of british waterways, have reversed this decline. the number of miles is now increasing. last year, 13 million people visited our canals and the number of boats is actually higher now than during the industrial revolution. such examples are important because our economy faces the prospect of change again. after an unprecedented financial crisis and deep recession, the uk economy needs to rebalance. tonight i want to talk about what those changes will entail and the role which the bank of england can play in supporting them. the bank of england ’ s key role has always been to ensure that the economy is supplied with the right quantity of money – neither too much nor too little. for fifty years, my predecessors struggled to prevent there being too much, so leading to inflation. i find myself in the opposite situation having to explain that there is too little money in the economy. but, in the wake of the financial crisis, and the sharp downturn that followed, the amount of money in the economy as a whole – broad money – is now barely growing at

was considered as a design that would be acceptable to all south africans. the currency was last upgraded in 2005 when enhanced security features on the “ big five ” banknote series were added. internationally, it is regarded as best practice for central banks to upgrade the security features of their banknotes every six to eight years. this is to combat counterfeiting, which diminishes the value of real money, robs countries worldwide of billions of rand annually, and tarnishes the credibility of a currency, thereby impacting on the growth of that economy. one of the responsibilities of the south african reserve bank is to protect the value and integrity of the south african currency. through this comprehensive communication campaign, we want to ensure that all our citizens and organisations familiarise themselves with the look and feel of the new banknotes, and reinforce the culture of knowing our money. i also want to emphasise that the current notes remain legal tender and are of equal value to the new note. so whether you have the existing r200 note or a r200 mandela note, they are both worth the same. this is the launch of the communication campaign about the new banknotes, which we plan to introduce into circulation before the end of this year. the date on which these notes will be available and co - circulate with the current note for a while will be made public in due course. bis central bankers ’ speeches before then, much remains to be done and the sarb team is hard at work with many of you to make this happen in a seamless manner. i would like to thank all our partners : the cash industry, including commercial banks and cashin - transit companies ; the retail sector ; government departments ; the society for the blind ; and the pan south african language board for their sound support and willingness to a play an important role in informing the broader south african public about the country ’ s new banknote series. we will now share with you the details and roll - out of the new banknote communication campaign. through the campaign we hope to reach all south africans and ensure that they are aware of the new banknotes and, more importantly, that they can recognise and become familiar with the key security features. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches