henrique de campos meirelles : inauguration speech inauguration speech delivered by mr henrique de campos meirelles, governor of the central bank of brazil, at the ministry of finance in brasilia on 7 january 2003. * * * i am honored to take up this position that requires permanent and rigorous defense of the currency. in these past elections, society expressed its legitimate wishes. we all want high economic growth, low inflation, a stable exchange rate, high levels of international reserves, a low external deficit, low interest rates, abundant credit, and a fair distribution of income. these are certainly goals of both the government and society at large. the ultimate target of any policy is economic growth and social welfare. among the several government entities and institutions that seek to fulfill society's wishes and achieve the government's targets, the task assigned to the central bank is to maintain a low level of inflation. the outgoing government chose price stability as a priority target, or at least that is what was perceived by society. there were several consequences of this choice, among which we highlight the extraordinary public attention drawn to central bank's role. we will work to keep price stability as a centerpiece of the brazilian economic landscape, and we will work with resoluteness and long term horizons. president luis inacio lula da silva's government has clearly stated its objectives of economic growth and social inclusion. many misunderstood this as a precipitously abandonment of monetary discipline and fiscal austerity. this analysis contains an important misperception. stability is not an end to itself. it is a necessary condition for growth and social justice. an environment of stable prices establishes a necessary condition for output growth by reducing uncertainties and distortions, lengthening decision - making horizons and allowing for an increase in investments and productivity gains. there is no dichotomy between price stability and economic growth, as stability paves the road for growth. price stability allows the country to plan government actions. moreover, it should be made clear that there is no such thing as a choice of higher sustainable growth with higher inflation. no country in the world has experienced prolonged periods of economic growth with high rates of inflation. nonetheless, examples abound of short periods of growth driven by mistaken policies, usually inflationary, which were followed by recession and stagnation that lasted for much longer periods. the central bank's goal is, therefore, to contribute to economic growth by maintaining price stability. in the long run,

. in a more structural aspect, the recent crisis is expected to leave visible traces in the economic development. in a long - term horizon, it seems that new economic and strategic balances are being determined, thus re - dimensioning the poles of global economic growth. in a medium - term horizon, the global economic growth rate is expected to converge in a lower balance than the one that has prevailed over the last two decades. this slowdown may be accompanied by economic and social problems for those countries, which would not know how to figure out their relevant implications. in a short - term horizon, discussions on the state ’ s role in the economy, on economic development and growth patterns, on the philosophy and appropriate practices regulating the financial markets, will dominate the political round - table debates. in particular, the economic growth model will be a sensitive topic for economies significantly affected by the crisis, including many eastern european countries. promoting competitive advantage and increasing competitiveness in global markets will be the subject of discussions and intended reforms. turning to domestic economic developments, the analysis of available indicators shows that the albanian economy has had a positive economic growth during the first nine months of the year. however, these indicators suggest that the growth rate was characterized by a progressive slowdown during 2009. such performance was conditioned by reduced foreign demand and slowed domestic demand, in the presence of a tight liquidity situation, financing restriction and increased uncertainty. according to preliminary data from instat, the economic growth for the first nine - month period of the year was 4. 9 percent, against 7. 8 percent recorded for the same period of the previous year. in sectoral terms, the sectors that benefited most from the economic growth are the services and construction ones, while the industry sector underwent a more problematic performance. the positive growth rate has been supported by the fiscal stimulus, while consumer demand and the contribution of external sector to the economy have been relatively stable. at the same time, private investments have declined. consumer demand has been supported by a slight rise in employment and wages, while the mortgage and consumer credit contraction, as well as reduction of remittances have given the reverse effect. private investments have been contracted, as a consequence of limited financing resources, reduced lending support by the banking system and limited access to international capital markets. increased uncertainty, slowed progress of the final demand for their products and reduced capacity utilization rate have impacted on such performance. effects of domestic economic slowdown and the global economic crisis have appeared even in the foreign