##8. this allows the bank of namibia to focus on its mandate to authorize payment instruments such as nampost smart card and electronic money instruments such as issued by mobipay. to assist the bank of namibia in carrying out the functions of oversight of the abovementioned service providers to ensure compliance with set standards. since its establishment, pan has developed in terms of both its structural arrangements and its stature. today, pan has a governing council, an executive office which is being launched today, and several payment clearing house ( pch ) working groups or committees. this has increased its operational efficiency and service delivery. bis central bankers ’ speeches pan has achieved many goals over the last several years. although i do not want to go into details of all the particular achievements, allow me to highlight a few major milestones at this occasion. pan facilitated the development of the national payment system vision 2015 which casts the roadmap for both bank and non - bank stakeholders to participate in a broader payment system which is efficient, cost - effective and secure. pan currently runs three pchs, each representing a retail payment stream being ; cheque, cards and electronic funds transfer ( eft ). this has increased the operational efficiency and effectiveness of the industry for the benefit of the national payment system in the provision of these services. ladies and gentlemen, with the commissioning of this office, pan will be better positioned to continue to be the co - ordinating body through which payment system stakeholders are able to voice their views, contribute to a mutually beneficial national payment system and through which payment system projects can be co - ordinated. any providers of payment services that are not authorised by pan are operating illegally and we therefore call on any payment service providers to please enquire at this office. it is with great pleasure therefore, that i commission the office of pan together with its new logo and website. please join me in congratulating pan on these achievements which pave the way towards an exciting and bright future for the national payment system of namibia. in conclusion, i have no doubt that pan will live up to its mission, “ to maintain a world - class payment system that meets domestic, regional and international requirements ”. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches

to 0. 8 %, compared with 0. 9 % in november and 1. 0 % in october. this development was in line with previous trends ; i. e. it was due mainly to a further reduction in energy prices and also, in december, to a decline in the price increases in non - energy industrial goods. taking a forward - looking perspective, the general environment continues to suggest that there are no significant upward or downward pressures on prices in the short term. furthermore, the pattern of risks to price stability has remained broadly unchanged. on the one hand, downward risks could materialise if import or producer prices were to fall further. on the other, given current wage demands, wage developments, especially when measured in real terms, could become a matter of concern and fiscal policies would also pose a threat to the favourable outlook for prices and growth and employment prospects, if the credibility of the stability and growth pact were undermined. in addition, exchange rate trends need to be monitored closely given their importance for domestic price developments. in conclusion, taking into account the latest evidence available, the governing council has not altered its assessment of the outlook for price developments. the governing council therefore decided to keep ecb interest rates unchanged at the levels currently prevailing. i should like to take this opportunity to recall that real three - month interest rates, if measured as nominal rates corrected for current hicp inflation ( as a very incomplete proxy ), stood at a level of 2. 3 % in january ; this is approximately 80 basis points lower than the level one year ago. at the same time, real long - term interest rates, measured on a similar basis, have reached a level of 3. 0 %, which is around 110 basis points lower than in early 1998. these levels are very low, both in comparison with other countries and with historical data for the euro area. monetary and financial conditions therefore support continued economic growth in the euro area in line with price stability. i should now like to inform you about some other matters considered by the governing council. the end - of - day procedures relating to target and access to the eurosystem ’ s standing facilities were reviewed by governing council today. the governing council agreed that from tomorrow on the deadline for requesting access to the marginal lending facility will coincide with the deadline for access to the deposit facility, i. e. 30 minutes after the actual closing time of target. furthermore, the deadlines for requesting access to the eurosystem ’ s standing – 3 –