justice, provides the strongest possible reassurance that openness does not promote rent - seeking and does not harm consumers. our response to “ america first ” can therefore only be “ europe united ”, as the german foreign minister heiko maas recently put it. [ 8 ] in other words, we should foster cooperation on security and defence, speak with one voice on international affairs, and complete both the single market and the euro area ’ s architecture. let me stress the importance of the last objective : completing the euro area ’ s architecture. the european central bank has a fundamental stake in this project, given its mandate to protect the stability of the euro. but completing the euro area ’ s architecture is also necessary for europe to be able to attain its other objectives. we won ’ t be able to foster cooperation on security and defence, or to speak with one voice on international affairs, or to complete the single market if we repeatedly have to tackle economic crises which are largely of our own making. a series of crises has already taken its toll on welfare and jobs, and they have sown the seeds of division in a way that is still holding us back at a time when we need decisive action. a sound and sustainable euro area institutional architecture will help redirect political capital where it is most needed. so, these and other shortcomings need to be overcome, not only to strengthen the workings of the eu but also to protect and defend our interests abroad. if we europeans fail to make further progress, or if europe remains divided between north and south and between east and west, then we will be playing into the hands of those who are trying to divide us and marginalise our actions. thank you. 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches 1 see lebow, r. n. and r. kelly ( 2001 ), “ thucydides and hegemony : athens and the united states ”, review of international studies, vol. 27, no 4, pp. 593 – 609. 2 many people in the rest of the world may have seen it differently, of course. 3 see europa. eu / european - union / about - eu / eu - in - brief _ en. 4 see pisani - ferry, j. ( 2018 ), “ what leadership for tomorrow? ”, introductory note, les rencontres economiques d ’ aix - en - provence, 8 july. 5 see cœure, b. ( 2018 ),

transport, storage and communications ; and financial intermediaries sectors. in 2013 zambia ’ s overall macroeconomic performance was generally buoyant relative to other countries in the region and the world economy in general. real gdp growth was registered at 6. 5 percent in 2013 from 7. 3 percent in 2012. the growth was higher than 4. 9 % and 3. 0 % growth for sub - saharan africa and for the global economy in 2013, respectively. this growth was mainly driven by expansions in the transport, storage and communications ; bis central bankers ’ speeches construction ; community, social and personal services ; financial institutions and insurance as well as manufacturing sectors. in line with the expansion in real gdp, per capita gdp has increased from 332 us dollars in 2000, to 655 us dollars in 2005 and 1, 784 us dollars in 2013. we are, however, alive to the fact that more growth is required in order to have a lasting dent on high poverty levels and even more important, there is need to do more to make growth more inclusive and equitably distributed among the citizens of our country. distinguished participants, to ensure sustainable economic growth, the government has been pursuing appropriate macro - economic policies. to this effect, inflation has declined from the double digits of the early 2000s to single digit levels as recorded in recent years. annual inflation slowed down to 7. 1 % in december 2013 from 7. 3 in december 2012, although it was 1. 1 percentage points above the end - year target of 6 %. this outturn reflected higher non - food inflation which was moderated by lower food inflation. higher non - food inflation was largely due to higher fuel prices, coupled with pass - through effects of the depreciation of the kwacha against the us dollar. during the first four months of 2014 inflation rose to 7. 3 %, 7. 6 %, 7. 7 %, and 7. 8 % in january, february, march, and april, respectively. this was mainly attributed to the seasonal inflationary pressures associated with food prices during this time of the year, as well as pass - through effects of the exchange rate depreciation. distinguished media practitioners, you will also be interested to note that the bank of zambia has been refining its monetary and supervisory tools. the bank recorded a shift in its monetary policy framework in 2012 from the strict use of monetary aggregates to short - term interest rates, to better anchor inflation expectations. to this effect, the bank