PARAMARIBO-Vandaag zal governor van de Centrale Bank, Gylmore Hoefdraad, een openingstoespraak in het kader van de CCMF conferentie houden.
De toespraak in extenso gaat als volgt:
I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the participantsfor 44th Annual CCMF Conference, the executive director of the CCMF, members of the CCMF board, presenters in the conference, fellow central bankers, and all others here to support the deliberations in the coming days.
Also on behalf of the government of Suriname I would like to express our sincere sympathy to those affected by hurricane Sandy. Especially our brothers and sisters in Haiti, Cuba, and Jamaica.
It is an honor for the Central Bank of Suriname to host this conference again after 13 years (1999 being the previous occasion). We appreciate the fact that the CCMF fulfilled our request to have this conference in Paramaribo at the same time as the CARICOM Governor’s meeting since the Central Bank is celebrating its55th anniversarythis year.
Hosting this conference is an appropriate activity to remember the 55 years of establishment of the Bank. We are commemorating this anniversary amidst a comprehensive reform effort being put in place since the last trimester of 2010 that willsubstantively modernizethe management of our public finances and the financial sector.
One keyelement of the reform is ourcapacity building program.The Central Bank is setting up a financial and economic academy for skills training for employees of the financial sector and the public sector. The Bank itself has recently also selected a group of young economiststo join the central bank starting with a hands-on training programof 6 months on various aspects of central banking policies and financial sector supervision.
Hosting the CCMF conference is not only in line with thecapacity building policy of the Central Bank. It also allows us to participate in the discussion of cutting-edge research that can be incorporated into our theoretical and policy work. It is our responsibility in the area of economic policy-making in Suriname to keep abreast of new research and research frontiers and to actively incorporate research into the monetary and financial sector policy making. It also provides Suriname an opportunity for a mutually fruitful exchange with counterparts on the contemporaneous economic, monetary, and financial issues that affect our countries.
Looking at the program I see many interesting discussions ahead of us in the coming days.
This year’s theme: “Global Financial Shocks, Regional Macroeconomic Challenges and Their Impact on Regional Economic Integration”is not only highly relevantin this global volatile economic environment, but an issue that the Caribbean has been dealing with in different ways for many years. It has been a challenge and will remain a challenge for our small and open economies to limit the impact of global shocks, adapt to changes in the global environment, and find mutually supportive instruments and policies that can provide growth, jobs, opportunities, and prosperity for the people in our region.
Economic times are still trying indeed. Many economies have continued to struggle with the after-effects of the 2007/2008 financial crisis, while the financial turmoil in the euro area has added to delays in economic recovery in major advanced and emerging economies. This environment has been affecting investor confidence and risk perception, thereby preventing a resurgence of international demand for goods and services, tourism, and investment flows to the economies of the Caribbean.
In a way, the small and open economies of the Caribbean have not proven resilient enough to avoid being buffeted by other countries’ mismanagement of their fiscal and debt policies, and thepoorly coordinated and hastily implemented financial deregulation. The question is, how can weincrease the resilience of our economies and increase our flexibility to adapt easier and faster to changes in the international economic environment.
Even though Suriname has been marginally affected by the global economic crisis – as may be seen from the average growth rate of 4.5% over the last 3 years – we are well aware that many storms are still to come and that we need to prepare for the future.
Increased resilience can be achieved through long-term moderate economic policies, low levels of debt, larger reliance on domesticdemand, safety buffers, and a diversification of risk and production structures. This is true for all economies, but we have to add in the Caribbean the need to increase reliance on regional demand, and the relentless modernization of our administrations and our policy instruments.
We also believe in building national consensus on the ways forward and in building strong, modern, and flexible institutions. Therefore, the Central Bank of Suriname, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance,is continuing a deliberate policy to sustain macro-economic stability through prudent monetary and fiscal policies. I should say that we are rapidly advancing in a process of comprehensive structural reform of the financial sector and building a solid public financial management system through modernization of our legal framework and administrative and policy-making institutions.
In this respect,I believethat thisconference is a good opportunity to exchange experiences with some of our best and most respected economists in the region and to learn from your thinking and your recommendations.
I wish you all constructive and successful deliberations in the coming days.