change risk into global policy avenues and i must say that its guidance has unequivocally supported us in furthering our own climate agenda. in this respect, ladies and gentlemen, please join me in thanking our distinguished guest, mr frank elderson, the chairman of the ngfs, for his continued belief in the bank of mauritius ’ initiatives. indeed, the bank of mauritius has been very active in promoting the sustainability agenda amongst its regulatees. the bank, as you are aware, has launched in june this year, the guide for the issue of sustainable bonds. in september, we released for consultation a draft guideline on climate - related and environmental financial risk management to banks and non - bank deposittaking institutions. beyond that, the bank is diversifying its investment portfolio to factor in the element of sustainability. as regards our efforts, i am glad to announce today that we are establishing a climate change centre in line with international trends and what many central banks around the world have initiated. i earnestly hope that other central banks will follow suit, given the urgency of addressing climate change risks. ladies and gentlemen, but before i explore together with you the new frontier of possibilities that the climate change centre brings to the bank of mauritius, it is important that we first delve into the raison d ’ etre of our action against climate change risks especially against the backdrop of our unique vulnerabilities. on the economic front, climate change, creates uncertainties with potentially systemic consequences. first of all, natural calamities spurred by climate change can disrupt entire supply chains and drive price levels upwards. secondly, in the longer term, the transition to a lower carbon economy may, in the absence of an interim plan, turn a whole gamut of so - called brown businesses into sunset industries with risks of layoffs further depressing economic activity. but most importantly, i have in mind the possibly stagflationary effects of climate change – we may have on hand both rising price levels and slowdown in economic activity. 2 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches ladies and gentlemen, mauritius has, despite its limited energy and financial resources, embarked on an ambitious path to reduce its carbon footprint. in fact, as a citizen of mauritius, i have to say that i am proud to see that mauritius has ratified the paris agreement and has committed itself to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030. a series of other green measures have also been adopted in the last national budget and

much appreciated. i seize this opportunity to commend the fsap team, in particular mr abdessatar ouanes and mrs ann rennie, for having given a well - balanced assessment of our financial sector. the report does not merely refer to the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of our financial sector. it does also underline the strength of our financial sector and the progress that has been made in recent years with regard to our supervisory framework. i am particularly pleased to note, among the findings of the fsap mission, the following : 1. overall, the mauritian financial sector is currently in good health, and the short - term stability risks are modest. 2. mauritius has a relatively large and well - developed domestic financial system and a growing offshore sector. 3. the authorities have embarked on an ambitious program to transform the economy, and the government, in partnership with the private sector, is taking decisive measures to build a knowledge economy based on higher value - added services, notably in information and communication technologies. 4. the assessment of standards and codes found a high level of compliance with internationally accepted norms and best practices. 5. mauritius ’ strong economic performance has spurred the development of a large, profitable and sound banking sector. 6. the banking system of mauritius is profitable, well capitalised and generally sound. 7. the quality of banking supervision in mauritius has improved significantly over the past few years and is of a generally higher standard than in most african countries. 8. the bank of mauritius guidelines on corporate governance, internal control and credit are all of a commendable standard reflecting international best practices and the capacity of the bank of mauritius to enforce the guidelines has improved with the development of knowledge and skills within the supervision department. we expect that, on the basis of the fsap report, the financial stability forum will issue another press release announcing the removal of mauritius from the third category. our commitment to proceed with the various recommendations is already evidenced by the actions that have already been taken by the authorities in mauritius. we are thankful to the imf and the world bank for the prompt response given to our request for technical assistance to beef up our supervisory and legal framework. a few laws have, under the whip of the honourable minister for financial services, been enacted : the anti - money laundering ( miscellaneous provisions ) act to further strengthen our institutional and regulatory framework with respect to money laundering ; the convention for the suppression of the financing of terrorism act which lays the basis for