premiums and volatility levels, and substantially reduce the capacity of financial markets to offer useful yardsticks by which investors can discriminate the true credit quality of the different instruments. if this were to happen, the need for the spanish economy to turn to the international markets to finance a large part of the investment spending of spanish households and firms could become an obstacle to continued high buoyancy in the future. overall, ladies and gentlemen, since i last appeared before you, the growth prospects for the spanish economy that i then described largely remain in place, although the financial turmoil has, as everywhere, heightened the uncertainty surrounding those prospects. the outlook offered by a scenario of continued buoyancy – albeit at a slightly more moderate rate but with a more balanced composition – and the solidity of our financial institutions are evidence of a strength that affords every assurance of being able to withstand the impact of the turbulence. however, depending on the ultimate duration and intensity of this episode of turbulence, it cannot be ruled out that some difficulties may arise to prevent external demand from acting, as it has to date, as a factor sufficient to offset the foreseeable gradual moderation of domestic demand. this will be even more the case if the impact of the financial instability on the growth of spain ’ s main export markets becomes substantial. in circumstances such as those prevailing at present, economic policy has a very important role to play in offering a framework in which confidence stems from the existence of leeway for taking action to deal with possible future contingencies. to this end, policy should maintain its firm stance on medium - term stability targets and consequently avoid the adoption of measures excessively focused on the short term. in this respect, budgetary policy should not change its current stance, which is proving so beneficial for the strength of the economy by preserving a sufficiently wide budget surplus, so that there is headroom to deploy, if needed, its stabilising potential in less favourable circumstances than those prevailing at present. for this purpose, spending deviations should be avoided, since they would absorb prematurely a part of that headroom at a possibly inappropriate time. we will have occasion to look more specifically at this topic in the framework of the budget discussion process. an equally important task is that of continuing to implement resolutely and ambitiously the structural reform agenda, both in making the goods and factor markets more flexible and in pushing ahead with the capitalisation, productivity and competitiveness of the economy. these reforms

njuguna ndung ’ u : revolutionising finance for agricultural value chains remarks by prof njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the opening ceremony of the international conference on “ revolutionising finance for agricultural value chains ”, kenya school of monetary studies, nairobi, 15 july 2014. * * * his excellency, hon. william ruto, deputy president of the republic of kenya ; her excellency, tumusiime rhoda peace, commissioner for rural economy and agriculture, african union commission ; hon. akinwumi ayodeji adesina, minister for agriculture and rural development, nigeria ; mr. henry rotich, cabinet secretary for the national treasury ; mr. felix koskei, cabinet secretary for agriculture, livestock and fisheries ; honourable ministers ; ambassadors ; development partners ; fellow governors and deputy governors of central banks ; distinguished ladies and gentlemen : it gives me great pleasure, on behalf of the central bank of kenya, the kenya school of monetary studies and on my own behalf, to welcome you to nairobi and to this conference on “ revolutionising finance for agricultural value chains ”. i would, like, first of all, to recognize the role of the technical centre for agricultural and rural cooperation for african caribbean and pacific countries ( cta ) in bringing together the stakeholders in agricultural and development finance to discuss this highly important development agenda. the conference seeks to share experiences on innovative models of financing agricultural value chains and to further explore opportunities and challenges in expanding financial inclusion to rural households. the objective of this conference is very much in line with the development goal of promoting inclusive growth and the facilitative role of the financial sector in achieving this goal. the presence of his excellency, the deputy president of the republic of kenya in this opening ceremony, goes to show the commitment of the kenyan government to the inclusive finance and growth objective. your excellency, ladies and gentlemen ; evidence shows that much of the gains in growth experienced in africa in recent decades have largely been driven by efficiency gains and not due to new investments in the productive sectors. achieving the growth targets envisioned in our national development objectives such as vision 2030, would therefore require unlocking the bottlenecks to growth. these include among others, increasing savings and investment ; improving the business environment ; closing the infrastructure gaps ; reducing telecommunications costs ; and formalizing the informal sector. in the last few years, kenya has made great strides in unlocking