existence and benefits of services and facilities, and when these are accessible in a convenient and cost - effective manner, they are more likely to use such services. increasingly, “ virtual ” presence and access enabled by digital channels has become a viable platform for access to services and needs to be harnessed accordingly. overall, presence and accessibility enhance prospects for mobilisation of financial resources, and effective demand for housing finance and other beneficial loan products ; ultimately leading to increase in social welfare, as well as the broadening and growth of economic activity. i should, therefore, acknowledge that, currently, botswana building society has offices and branches in francistown, gaborone, kasane, lobatse, maun, selibe phikwe, serowe ; and now palapye, in addition to twelve automated teller machines ( atms ) countrywide. more significantly, bbs has and continues to invest in various corporate social responsibility projects worth millions of pula. among these projects are a school library in letswai primary school in zutshwa ; computer labs at marapong and mowana primary schools in the central and north east districts, respectively, as well as building new ablution facilities and upgrading old ones at molapowabojang primary school. these investments in educational facilities will go a long way in contributing towards good education for our children and this is to be applauded. on that note, let me conclude by indicating that it is my expectation that patronage and use of financial services will increase because of this new branch. thus, with relevant business strategies by botswana building society, as well as facilitative policy environment, this branch will foster and sustain financial inclusion and, in turn, the attendant benefits of productive saving and use of finance, access to payments services, and broadly, enhanced economic activity. i implore you all, palapye residents, the surrounding areas and beyond, to use bbs and other financial institutions in your area, to save ; to access and use credit wisely, for the benefit of your families and sustainable development of the country. it is now my honour and privilege to declare the bbs limited palapye branch officially open. i thank you for your kind attention.

throughout the world responded to the twin threats of a failing banking system and falling confidence. at home, the monetary policy committee cut interest rates from 5 % to 0. 5 % in just six months. and with interest rates close to their lower bound, the committee in march of this year voted to start a programme of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves, otherwise known as “ quantitative easing ”. these extraordinary actions were intended to reduce the risk of inflation falling below the 2 % inflation target that the bank of england is mandated to meet. they do so in a number of ways. the reduction in bank rate by lowering interest payments on loans has improved many companies ’ cash flows at a time when turnover is weak and working capital is scarce. a similar effect has operated for households : borrowers with floating rate mortgages in particular have seen their monthly repayments fall sharply. more generally, by reducing the returns on saving, the fall in interest rates has encouraged households and businesses to spend. the mpc ’ s programme of asset purchases has further stimulated demand by injecting additional money directly into the economy. the bank ’ s purchases of government bonds encourage investors to diversify into alternative assets, such as corporate bonds and equities. the bank is also operating directly in commercial paper and corporate bond markets to improve the functioning of those markets. both actions have helped to boost the prices of corporate assets, reducing yields and lowering the cost to companies of raising funds in capital markets. this in turn should help to stimulate increased spending. the dramatic easing in monetary policy occurred alongside a range of government policies. most importantly, the government ’ s actions to provide both capital and liquidity were see eichengreen and o ’ rourke ( 2009 ). romer ( 2009 ) makes a similar point. instrumental in stabilising the banking system. the temporary reduction in vat and the car scrappage scheme have boosted household spending and provided short - term support to retailers and the car industry. and the government ’ s business payment support service has reportedly enabled almost a quarter of a million small and medium - sized firms to delay tax payments. there are encouraging signs that these policy actions have been successful and the risk of a severe adverse feedback loop – as households, companies and banks simultaneously try to retrench – has been avoided. the banking system has stabilised. measures of business and household confidence have recovered significantly. and the most recent ons estimates for the third quarter suggest that the contraction in consumer