schemes or scams. notices have appeared in daily newspapers – yet despite these warnings, people are still duped into placing their moneys into fast money schemes. the operators of these fast money schemes have been lying to people about their activities so that they continue to rob the unsuspecting depositors of their hard earned cash and savings. these actions are outright acts of deceit, lies and fraud. to put the facts right : • the bank of png does not conduct transactions or deal with individuals ; • it does not issue guarantees or warrantees to individual, companies, financial institutions and even the government ; • any person taking deposit from the public is conducting an illegal activity, because it is not licensed by the bank of png and ; • the bank of png is not responsible for returning your deposits from such money schemes, and it is your responsibility to report such persons or schemes to the police, or go and recover it yourself from the person you paid it to. directors, executives and members of east new britain savings and loan society can assist by spreading the warning about the pitfalls of people placing their money in fast money schemes. you can quote examples of such operations as u - vistract who took people ’ s money and have gone hiding while depositors are still waiting for their payout. even fijians are waiting for their pay out. conclusion i take this opportunity to once again thank the members of the board, committeemen, management and staff of east new britain savings and loan society for continuing the hard work in providing the savings and loan services extensively to parts of east new britain. i encourage you to continue in maintaining good governance and management of your society. in officiating at this ground breaking ceremony for the new office complex for the east new britain savings & loan society, i wish to congratulate the board, management and committeemen, members and people of east new britain for achieving this milestone. thank you choir groups and performers.

consumption expenditure and accumulation of inventories all receded last year. there was only one exception, and that was consumption expenditure by general government which rose by 5 per cent in real terms, compared with an increase of only ½ per cent in 1995. this slower rate of increase in total domestic expenditure established better balance between production ( supply ) and expenditure ( demand ). with both sides of the economy now growing at about 3 per cent per annum, there is better equilibrium and less friction in the economy, which contributes also to more stable conditions in the financial markets. it is important that this balance between aggregate demand and aggregate supply be retained - - both should gradually be raised to a higher level, but the upward movement should be in tandem. monetary policy has an important part to play in maintaining this equilibrium over time. any artificial stimulation of the economy through a premature easing of monetary policy will lead to further tensions in the balance of payments and in the financial markets, and will lead to further upward pressure on inflation. at this stage, economists predict some further slow - down in the rate of increase in private sector consumption expenditure with continued growth at the current levels in gross domestic fixed investment. an important factor in this projection therefore will be the behaviour of government consumption expenditure. it is in this regard that the provision made by the minister of finance in his budget speech of last week for an increase in total government expenditure of only 6. 1 per cent in 1997 / 98 is of vital importance. in real terms, that is after provision for depreciation, total government expenditure will indeed decline and therefore make an important contribution to the retention of macroeconomic equilibrium this year. 2. monetary policy and the balance of payments monetary policy decisions are obviously also affected by the overall balance of payments situation, and not only by developments in the domestic economy. last year, international economic relations dominated the south african economic scene. towards the end of the year, however, better equilibrium was also restored in the external accounts and this contributed to the expectation of an easier monetary policy in 1997. the current account of the south african balance of payments showed a substantial and growing deficit in the first half of 1996. in the second quarter, the seasonally adjusted annualised rate of the deficit reached r12. 9 billion and there was justifiable concern that it could increase even further. against the background of a slow - down in total domestic expenditure in the second half of the year, the growth in imports levelled off and, with some good increases in