a new building for the rodrigues branch was laid on 24 november. while the international economic outlook may be marred by the recent sub - prime crisis, we expect mauritius to withstand the effects of the crisis reasonably well. strong growth in tourism and a well - behaved currency augur well for 2008. of course, we do not expect the sailing to be plain. the bank has already expressed its concerns about the financing arrangements for the integrated resorts scheme and highlighted the need to guard against speculative asset bubbles. several challenges, notably on the inflation front, and those arising from the erosion of our trade preferences and growing global competitiveness, will provide a severe test for the resiliency of our economy, and of our financial sector in particular, and indeed of our society and country as well. as this year closes, i wish to express my thanks to all those who have contributed in one way or another to the fulfilment of our mission throughout the year. in particular, i wish to thank chief executives of banks and the mauritius bankers association for their collaboration and continued support in all the on - going projects, the institute for consumer protection and the association des consommateurs de l ’ ile maurice for their help during the consumer education week, the honourable minister of agro industry & fisheries who leased a plot of land for the establishment of our bamboo garden, and the island commissioner of rodrigues who leased the plot of land for the construction of our rodrigues branch. in closing, i must record my gratitude to the prime minister for his constant support since he called upon me to take up the position of governor of the bank in mid - february. i must also extend my thanks to the deputy prime minister and minister of finance and economic development, board members, and members of the mpc for their help during the year. a special “ thank you ” to members of the staff of the bank at all levels, and in particular to my deputy governors. i am pleased to note that we have moved forward on many fronts during this year. i am confident that we will pursue our mission in the coming year with even greater dedication. may i wish you and your family a very happy new year 2008.

structure is now flatter, with the creation of divisions within the bank that are responsible for particular focused areas. the bank has adopted an open and transparent staffing strategy, with the promotion of thirty - nine existing staff and recruitment of fourteen additional staff from outside to ensure necessary competencies to build a workforce that would ultimately add value to the organisation and contribute directly towards the attainment of our organisational goals. the bank has also enhanced its training strategy to develop the full effectiveness of our most important resource, our people. sixty members of staff have followed training courses or seminars worldwide at, or under the auspice of, such institutions as the world bank and the imf, the united nations, the bis, sadc, and other central banks. the bank ’ s communication strategy has been reviewed. its website has been re - designed in line with latest developments in technology and information dissemination engines. the new website was launched in october 2007. it provides timelier information on a broader range of subjects. in 2008, the bank intends to revisit its approach to the dissemination of data and other publications. the concept of a centralised database was introduced during the year and work has already started to that effect. we are being guided in that project by the reserve bank of india, and the central database should be operational towards the end of next year. as part of good corporate governance practices, thirteen statutory board meetings were held during the year. for the first time, a two - day retreat regrouping board directors, our external legal counsel, and top bank management was organised to discuss corporate governance issues. the event was held in rodrigues, and we were pleased to have among us the secretary - general of the central bank governance forum of the bis as resource person to share his experience of other central banks on governance matters generally. for the year ended 30 june 2007, the bank realised an operating surplus of rs1, 763 million. it remitted rs900 million to government, a 50 per cent increase over the amount transferred the preceding financial year, after making adequate provision for open market operations and effecting necessary statutory transfers. the move to the bank tower, our new premises, has almost been completed. the old building will be refurbished to accommodate a knowledge management centre, an auditorium, a conference room, and a museum. the development of the rodrigues branch was also a priority for the bank during this year as we explored better ways of serving the community there. the foundation stone for