2002 and by nearly 25 per cent in the first eleven months of 2003. such volatility in exchange rates seems to be a fact of life in most economies these days. fluctuations in the external value of currencies are unavoidable in the current international monetary system of generally floating exchange rates. even when currencies are pegged to another currency or to a basket of currencies, they still float against other currencies and fluctuate widely at times. large fluctuations in the exchange rate of the rand are clearly not healthy for the economy. the uncertainty caused by these fluctuations makes investment and export planning extremely difficult. what may seem to be a profitable venture can turn out completely different with a substantial swing in the external value of the rand. the reserve bank would obviously prefer to have greater exchange rate stability, but as already indicated fluctuations in the exchange rate of the rand seems unavoidable. the bank can only create an environment that favours exchange rate stability. one of the most important recent developments in this regard has been the improvement in the net open foreign currency position of the reserve bank. the oversold foreign currency position of the bank has always been perceived as a source of exchange rate weakness and instability. the bank's objective was therefore to eliminate this oversold position, which stood at us $ 23, 2 billion at the end of september 1998. during the past year this objective was finally achieved in may. at the end of october a positive net open foreign currency position of us $ 2, 7 billion was recorded. having removed this perceived vulnerability, the price discovery process in the market for foreign exchange should now display a better two - way trading pattern. in an attempt to further improve the functioning of the south african market for foreign exchange, the bank has shifted its focus to reducing its oversold forward book and to strengthening the official foreign exchange reserve position. considerable success has been achieved in bringing the oversold forward book down to lower levels. the balance on the oversold forward book stood at us $ 2, 3 billion at the end of october 2003, compared with us $ 6, 9 billion at the end of december 2002. in the mean time, the official foreign exchange reserve position was also increased to a level of us $ 7, 8 billion at the end of october 2003. 6. conclusion these improvements in the functioning of the foreign exchange market and the lower inflation rate should at least provide a basis for more stability in the value of the rand. however,

sabine mauderer : green transition in germany – short - term needs and long - term opportunities speech by dr sabine mauderer, member of the executive board of the deutsche bundesbank, at the kfw " capital markets conference on energy transition for germany ", frankfurt am main, 9 july 2024. * * * check against delivery 1 introductory remarks ladies and gentlemen, last friday, we found out that germany is not going to be the next european football champion. unfortunately. but what i can tell you today is that – fortunately – germany is the european champion when it comes to registered patents. and it is competing at the top level globally, too. as you know, germany has been through challenging times in recent years : 2020 marked the beginning of the global covid - 19 pandemic that triggered a severe supply shock. in early 2022, war broke out in europe, causing, first and foremost, immense human suffering in ukraine, but also economic disruption across the continent. at that time, it also became painfully clear how dependent germany had become on importing fossil fuels. this also translated into higher prices. in october 2022, inflation in the euro area reached an all - time high of 10. 6 %. 2 situation today so, let's have a look at the situation today. we overcame the pandemic, thanks in part to a vaccine developed in germany. and as for the economic fallout, luckily only a small percentage of companies went bust. this year, the economy has started to pick up again. the eurosystem managed to bring inflation in june down to 2. 5 %, less than two years after inflation peaked. representatives from twenty different european countries worked together to set monetary policy in a way that brought euro area inflation back towards its 2 % target. this shows that europe works! i expect the same dedication to complete the capital markets union. at the same time, the labour market has been robust. according to eurostat, the unemployment rate in may is stable at 6. 4 % in the euro area, and just 3. 3 % in germany. 1 german businesses are well aware that international recruitment is needed to manage the demographic challenges. numerous ceos have made that very clear. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches our political system in germany is an anchor of stability. these days, we all know how important that is, also from an investor's point of view. furthermore, germany's fiscal situation is sound