government - this is the political and supreme body of the zone, with the overall responsibility for the achievement of the objectives of the wamz ; ( ii ) the convergence council of ministers and central bank governors - the supervisory authority of the wamz and its institutions ; ( iii ) the technical committee which works in collaboration with wami, to facilitate the integration process ; ( iv ) the west african central bank ( wacb ), when established, would be the common central bank of the zone, while the existing national central banks will be national branches of the wacb ; and ( v ) wamz stabilization and cooperation fund ( scf ) to provide financial assistance to member states that may experience temporary disequilibria in their balance of payments. convergence criteria under the wamz the convergence criteria for the west african monetary zone focus on achieving inflation rate of 5 per cent by 2003 ; fiscal deficit gdp ratio of 4 per cent by 2002 ; limiting of deficit financing by the central bank to 10 percent and maintaining sufficient level of gross official foreign exchange reserves of at least 6 months of imports by 2003. the agreement establishing the zone stipulates that the convergence criteria be achieved and sustained within a given time frame. however, there have been slippages and inconsistencies in the performances of member countries regarding attainment of the stipulated targets. while some countries of the zone were negatively affected by civil conflicts, the situation was compounded by severe terms to trade experienced by many countries in the last few years. a major militating factor was expansionary fiscal policies which tended to weaken relatively tight monetary policies pursued by the sub - region ’ s central banks. the poor state of infrastructure was also unconducive to investments and economic growth. the poor country performances relative to the stipulated targets necessitated the extension of the period for meeting the convergence criteria, before the establishment of the common central bank, from january 2003 to june 2005. progress / prospects of actualizing the single currency objective of the wamz the authorities of the wamz have programmed several actions to be taken to strengthen macroeconomic convergence and stability. the wami, in collaboration with experts from member countries and the technical committee, has been taking concrete steps and providing some viable solutions to various technical issues involved in the arrangement. a forum for ministers of finance of member countries of the zone was established in 2002 to be discussing how best to address the problem of fiscal dominance in a co - ordinated manner that would reduce fiscal

andriy pyshnyy : national bank of ukraine press briefing - monetary policy decisions speech by mr andriy pyshnyy, governor of the national bank of ukraine, at a press briefing on monetary policy decisions, kyiv, 25 april 2024. * * * dear colleagues, the board of the national bank of ukraine has decided to cut the key policy rate from 14. 5 % to 13. 5 % effective 26 april 2024. considering a decline in actual and expected price pressures and lower risks to inflows of international financial support, the nbu continues the easing cycle of its interest rate policy. this will support lending development and economic recovery without posing additional risks to price and financial stability. in q1 2024, consumer inflation slowed more rapidly than expected by the nbu actual consumer inflation slowed to 3. 2 % yoy in march and was below the nbu's forecast. the deviations from the forecast were primarily driven by temporary factors that were difficult to predict. mild winter led to higher supply of raw foods and lowered the pressure on business costs, in particular the cost of energy. in addition, effects of last year's strong harvests continued. core inflation also slowed ( to 4. 2 % yoy ) but was rather close to the nbu's forecast. on the one hand, further growth in labor costs and consequences of the blockade of the western borders supported underlying inflationary pressures. on the other hand, the underlying inflationary pressures were eased by an improvement in inflation expectations and pass - through effects from lower prices of raw foods to the prices of processed foods and some services. the nbu has improved its inflation forecast for 2024 to 8. 2 % and expects inflation to settle within the target range of 5 % ± 1 pp in the coming years as before, the nbu forecasts a moderate increase in inflationary pressure in view of the expected vanishing of effects from last year's strong harvests, continued recovery in consumption, and a rise in business costs amid the war. at the same time, taking into account the improved dynamics of actual inflation and better inflation expectations, the nbu has lowered its end - 2024 inflation forecast, from 8. 6 % to 8. 2 %. in the coming years, inflation will return to the target range of 5 % ± 1 pp and will settle at this level. this will be facilitated by a gradual normalization of conditions in which the economy functions, an easing of