, variation in bank charges, re - investment rates in companies, development of mauritius as a duty free island, and the time taken to process cheques. these are not meetings for taking votes. they are more important than that. for they give airtime to the softest voices. i have always had a sneaking feeling, you know, that in the long run, we discover that the minorities with the softest voices are almost always right. this open approach to our consultative meetings has been extended to our over - the - counter banking ; more open than ever this year. this is a trend sweeping though the banking sector in general. 40th year celebrations now let me briefly take you through the highlights of our anniversary year. this has served as a celebration of the wisdom and courage of our founders, a rite of passage into a new era in banking, and a preparation for the difficult journey ahead. i have been immensely grateful to the staff past and present who have put so much of themselves into each of these unfolding events. we began with a gala dinner with the great and the good, at which we received expressions of most generous support from the prime minister, from the deputy prime minister and minister of finance, and from our colleagues and friends in the banking and business community, many of whom are also with us tonight. i was particularly delighted that de la rue ’ s were represented here. that is a link to this country that goes back over 150 years. our new building has been formally opened and we are gradually becoming accustomed to its special architectural features and added security measures. staff and their families greatly appreciated the inter - faith ceremony and blessings for their work, from the leaders of many religious communities, who graced that occasion with prayers and hymns of praise. amongst other celebratory events this year, were : • the interclub youth athletics tournament, • a health week, • the launching the new rs20 coin, • the issue of a commemorative rs 200 coin, • the design competition for the new bank notes, • the charity night for epilepsy and alzheimer associations, and • the opening of the ecological bamboo garden. revisiting the future finally, as we close our anniversary celebrations, we must look into the future and work towards the accomplishment of a new era for banking. another forty years takes us beyond 2020 ; into vision 20 - 20 +. the prime requirements for us will be to nurture a strong adaptive capacity, and a healthy appetite for problem solving. seven

development in banking in this country. in reviewing this year of real progress, so far, i shall touch on : • the formal institutional developments, • the internal light re - engineering or restructuring, • our new relationships with stakeholders, and • some of the events in our pageant of 40th anniversary year celebrations. institutional developments allow me to list a few of the critical institutional reforms that have already changed the pattern of our work together. for the first time in our history, we have a monetary policy committee, which, with its new independence, will ensure a more adaptive capacity for determining the best monetary interests for the country. we have had the amendment to the banking act, which gives the mpc decisive powers. we have instituted a new departure in communications policy that ensures that, you know as much as we do, about both the decisions and the analysis. yesterday, in our fifth meeting, we came to an historic decision on interest rates, by unanimous vote : business as usual ; no change! for those new to these matters, i must confirm that it is not a requirement that the members of the mpc are signed up adherents to monetarist theory. we have a more liberal perspective here ; rather taking the view that monetarism, like marxism, has suffered the only fate for a theory worse than death ; it was, for a time, put into practice. history teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives. what worries me, and i guess most other bankers, is that when great men get drunk with theory, it is the little men who wake up with the headache. we now have a new formal accord on our complementary functions with the financial services commission the fsc. this will i believe set a new tone for harmonious cooperation between the several actors in promoting safe more efficient and stable leadership and management in the sector. this accord is the start of a journey we are making, together. it is not a final destination we have already attained. we are passing through a tense period globally in the supervision of banking and credit. there are compelling reasons to take stock now. so we have made an important step in establishing this new accord on our relative roles in supervision of the ownership structure, corporate governance and risk management. it is this latter field that has been in the sharp focus of worldwide concern, starting with the so - called sub - prime market in the us. this has not been a local storm in a tea - cup, but a