A



[pic]

distr.

5 LIMITED

6

7 CS/TCM/BCBG/xxxi/5

8 August

9

10 Original: ENGLISH

11

12

13 common market for eastern

14 and southern africa

15

Thirty First Meeting of the Bureau of the COMESA

16 Committee of Governors of Central Banks

17

18 Domaine Les Pailles, Mauritius

4 August, 2010

20

21

22

23 tHIRTY fIRST mEETING OF THE bureau of the

24 COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks

A. INTRODUCTION

1. The Thirty First Meeting of the Bureau of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks was held on 4 August, 2010 in Mauritius.

B. ATTENDANCE, OPENING OF THE MEETING AND ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA AND ORGANISATION OF WORK

Attendance

2. The meeting was attended by Governors and delegates from Central Banks of Burundi, Egypt, Mauritius, Sudan, Swaziland, the COMESA Secretariat and the COMESA Clearing House. The list of participants is at Annex V of this report.

Opening of the Meeting (Agenda item 1)

3. In his opening statement, Mr. Rundheersing Bheenick, Governor of Bank of Mauritius and the Chairman of the Committee called the meeting to order and extended a very warm welcome to all fellow Governors and delegates present at the meeting.

Adoption of the Agenda and Organisation of Work (Agenda Item 2)

4. The Bureau adopted the following agenda items:

1. Welcoming remarks by the Chairman

2. Adoption of the Agenda and Organization of Work

3. Consideration of the Report of the Seventh Meeting of the Experts of the Bureau of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks on the following:

a. Status Report on the implementation of the Regional Payment and Settlement System (REPSS);

b. Audited Financial Statement of the COMESA Clearing House for the year ended 31st March 2009;

c. Interim Accounts of the COMESA Clearing House for the period ended 31st March 2010;

d. COMESA Clearing House Budget for the period April 2010 to March 2011;

e. Status of implementation of the Decisions of the Fourteenth Meeting of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks; and

f. Draft Agenda for the 15th Meeting of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks;

4. Any Other Business;

5. Adoption of the Report and Closure of the Meeting

5. The Bureau agreed on the following hours of work:

Morning: 10.30 -12.30 hours

Afternoon: 14.30 -15.30 hours

1 C. ACCOUNT OF PROCEEDINGS

Consideration of the Report of the Seventh Meeting of the Experts of the Bureau of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks

Status Report on the Implementation of the Regional Payment and Settlement System (REPSS) (Agenda Item 3(a))

6. The Bureau noted the report on the activities carried out by the COMESA Clearing House, as mandated by the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks, at its Fourteenth Meeting held in Mauritius on 29 & 30 October 2009.

7. The Bureau recalled that under the Regional Payment and Settlement System, either the exporter’s currency or any other currency agreed upon between the importer and the exporter is quoted on Letters of Credit (LCs); a single currency (US$ or EUR) is used for net settlement; a single nostro correspondent is used for the net settlement currency; the COMESA Clearing House acts as the agent of the Central Banks; bilateral limits (Net debit/Net Receiver) are set by each Central Bank at the Clearing House and each transaction is expressed in the settlement currency. Bilateral agreements between Central Banks are formulated that limits the amount of central bank exposure, to further ensure that settlement is a successful event each day.

8. Fees for the facility are assessed on a percentage basis. Initial charges for the system stand at 0.25 % (0.2% for CCH & 0.05% for the Central Bank) of the value of the transaction, with a minimum charge of US$ 20 or EUR equivalent. Each Central Bank decides, in consultation with COMESA Clearing House, on the upper limit of these charges based in individual market conditions.

9. REPSS (i) Guarantees prompt payment to the exporter - at the latest by the next day that the importer deposits the required amount at its Central Bank; (ii) Builds trust amongst traders that would lead to an increase in intra-regional trade; (iii) Drastically reduces the cost of making intra-regional trade transactions; (iv) Levels the playing field by getting all commercial banks to deal directly with one another, without having to go through banks outside the region; and (v) Eliminates the need for confirmed Letters of Credit and ultimately gets trade transactions to be effected on open accounts.

10. The Bureau noted the current implementation of REPSS as follows:

i) Live Bank Identifier Code (BIC) registration on the Closed User Group (CUG) are in place for the Central Banks of Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Live RMAs (Relationship Management Application that have replaced the former BKE – Bilateral Key Exchange) are also in place for the Central Banks of Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe;

ii) Live and Test Environments have been set up to run in parallel to allow for those Central Banks that did not go through the First Test Pack to do so whilst the System operates in live mode;

iii) Settlement Accounts have been created by the Settlement Bank (Bank of Mauritius) for all Central Banks that are members of the Clearing House namely: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, DR Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. These accounts will be activated immediately after signature of the agreement with the Settlement Bank and pre-funding of the respective accounts;

iv) Test runs in the live mode of operation have been carried out involving the Central Banks of Mauritius, Kenya, Swaziland and Madagascar;

v) Agreements between (i) the Settlement Bank and each Central Bank; and (ii)) COMESA Clearing House and each Central Bank were resent to all Central Banks by the Chairman of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks. The following Member Countries have so far signed all the agreements: Comoros, Congo D.R., Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda and Zambia;

vi) REPSS will initially transact in US Dollars and Euros and it has also been agreed to include the following additional currencies at a later stage: UK Pounds (GBP), Switzerland Francs (CHF), Japanese Yen (JPY) and South African Rand (ZAR);

vii) Following requests from the Central Banks of Egypt, Libya and Sudan for a rerun of the training sessions on REPSS, in view of new staff in their respective Payments and IT departments, these workshops were held at the Central Bank of Egypt for all concerned staff. Technical problems relating to logging in into REPSS, message exchanges and manual changing of credit limits were raised at the workshop by the Central Bank of Egypt. They are being addressed and sorted out by the Clearing House and the service providers;

viii) With a view to further consolidating REPSS Operations and ensuring that the Central Bank of Egypt’s concerns are taken on board, the Clearing House SWIFT Bank Identifier Code (BIC) which was previously hosted at Fin-X/Bankserv in South Africa, has been successfully moved to the Bank of Mauritius;

ix) In October 2009, CCH was invited to make presentations at the Africa-China Business Summit, held in Cape Town, where the benefits of REPSS were discussed as well as ways of using REPSS in trade payments across the two regions to the benefit of system users and in enhancing trade;

x) At the recent COMESA mission to the United Arab Emirates in May 2010, it was suggested that the possibilities of integration of COMESA REPSS and UAE RTGS (RAPID) should be fully explored. The fast pace of developments in the trade and financial world makes it necessary to integrate payments systems across regions, not only to ensure that the systems meet the changing trade needs but also that their functionalities are harmonised. REPSS and RAPID are designed to ensure reliability and integrity of settlements as they are both regulated on the same core principles. Both systems have many similarities in terms of i) Settlement Finality ii) Operating platform and procedures iii) Risk Management principles and iv) Benefits to users and trade. A comparative analysis of the two systems has been carried out and the way forward for their interfacing recommended;

xi) REPSS is being aggressively promoted in all Member States through Sensitisation Workshops organised by Central Banks and with the participation of commercial banks, exporters and importers and other stakeholders;

xii) The Global Board of Trade (GBOT), an international multi-asset derivative exchange, has indicated that its Clearing Banks will be using REPSS for funds transfer within COMESA; and

xiii) The CEO of the Estate Agency Affairs Board of the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO) has shown interests in using REPSS for all property financial transactions within COMESA.

11. The Bureau also noted the status of implementation of REPSS, at national level, as follows:

Burundi

- Consultations are underway with the Clearing House for the holding of a sensitisation workshop on REPSS;

- Identification of initially two regional exporters and importers and their respective commercial banks will be undertaken after the sensitisation workshop and will be communicated to the Clearing House; and

- REPSS Legal Agreements have been sent to the Legal Department for review and will thereafter be signed;

D R Congo

- REPSS Legal Agreements have been signed;

- Identification of initially two regional exporters and importers and their respective commercial banks is being undertaken and will be communicated to the Clearing House

Egypt

- REPSS Legal Agreements have been reviewed and will be expeditiously signed once further tests have been conducted;

- Two regional exporters and importers and their respective commercial banks participated in the workshop held in Cairo and provided useful comments on the system;

Kenya

- The collective set of agreements has been forwarded and will be reviewed in preparation for expeditious execution;

- Identification of initially two regional exporters and importers and their respective commercial banks is being undertaken and will be communicated to the Clearing House

Libya

- REPSS Legal Agreements will be reviewed by the Legal Department and will be expeditiously signed;

- Identification of initially two regional exporters and importers and their respective commercial banks will be undertaken and will be communicated to the Clearing House; and

- 2 representatives of the Central Bank of Libya were present at the workshop held in Cairo in March 2010

Madagascar

- Consultations are underway with the Clearing House for the holding of a sensitisation workshop on REPSS at an appropriate date;

- Identification of initially two regional exporters and importers and their respective commercial banks is being undertaken and will be communicated to the Clearing House; and

- The collective set of agreements have been forwarded and are being reviewed in preparation for expeditious execution.

Malawi

- Signed an agreement with COMESA Clearing House and an MOU with the Bank of Mauritius which is acting as a settlement bank for the system. However, in order to strengthen the contractual arrangement, Bank of Mauritius has sent an agreement which is being vetted by RBM’s Legal Affairs Department;

- Participated in two tests among a series of tests which COMESA Clearing House conducted;

- In March 2009, RBM in conjunction with COMESA Clearing House officials conducted a sensitization workshop involving treasury managers from commercial banks and officials from the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

- In June 2009, RBM held a meeting with commercial banks where a Task Force, whose membership comprises of RBM and commercial banks officials, was formed for ease of correspondence and handling other system sensitization/awareness related issues; and

- RBM has identified two exporters and two importers involved in intra-regional trade whose payments will be processed in REPSS.

Mauritius

- All agreements and accounts are in place for live operations; and

- Identification of initially two regional exporters and importers and their respective commercial banks is being undertaken and will be communicated to the Clearing House.

Rwanda

- REPSS Legal Agreements have been signed;

- Identification of initially two regional exporters and importers and their respective commercial banks is being undertaken and will be communicated to the Clearing House; and

- Consultations are underway with the Clearing House for the holding of a sensitisation workshop on REPSS at an appropriate date.

Seychelles

- Is currently focussing on the modernisation of the national payments system;

- Identification of initially two regional exporters and importers and their respective commercial banks is being undertaken and will be communicated to the Clearing House; and

- Consultations are underway with the Clearing House for the holding of a sensitisation workshop on REPSS.

Sudan

- REPSS Legal Agreements have been signed; and

- Identification of initially two regional exporters and importers and their respective commercial banks has been undertaken and communicated to the Clearing House.

Swaziland

- REPSS Legal Agreements have been signed;

- Swaziland is at testing stage – tested with three Banks and has requested for another review visit in August from the Clearing House;

- Had already opened an account with the Settlement Bank;

- Back home have engaged commercial banks to get their buy in; and

- Developed Draft Rules between the Central Bank and the Commercial Banks.

Uganda

- REPSS Legal Agreements have been signed; and

- Identification of initially two regional exporters and importers and their respective commercial banks is being undertaken and will be communicated to the Clearing House

Zambia

- REPSS Legal Agreements have been signed; and

- Identification of initially two regional exporters and importers and their respective commercial banks is being undertaken and will be communicated to the Clearing House

Zimbabwe

- REPSS Legal Agreements are being reviewed by the Legal Department and will be expeditiously signed; and

- Identification of initially two regional exporters and importers and their respective commercial banks is being undertaken and will be communicated to the Clearing House.

12. Progress Report from the following countries have been requested: Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

13. The Bureau took note of the following activities that are either ongoing or will be undertaken during the period August 2010 – March 2011:

i) Aggressive Marketing of REPSS in the region – Ongoing

ii) Promoting REPSS with major traders, commercial and merchant banks and trade financing institutions of the region – Ongoing

iii) Follow up on opening of Settlement Accounts at Bank of Mauritius and signing of agreements – Ongoing

iv) Operating of REPSS in Live Mode with the Central Banks of Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan, Swaziland and Zambia – September 2010

v) Holding of REPSS Stakeholders Meetings at Central Banks for Progress Review – October to December 2010

vi) Holding of Workshops for all Central Banks for REPSS Progress Review and System Enhancements – November 2010 and March 2011

vii) Holding of Sensitisation Workshops at National Levels - Ongoing

viii) Off- site support to Central Banks – Ongoing

ix) Holding of REPSS Post-Live Stakeholders Meetings at Central Banks for Progress Review – August to December 2010

x) Updating of COMESA Website on CCH and REPSS Activities and providing links into CCH from participating Central Banks Websites - Ongoing

Discussions

14. The Bureau expressed concerns on the proposed fee structure under which each Central Bank was requested, in consultation with the Clearing House, to fix an upper limit for charges based on individual market conditions.

15. The Clearing House explained that in view of different market conditions and charges currently levied by Commercial Banks in Member States, it was proposed that for direct money transfers an upper limit be decided for each central bank, after consultations carried out by the Clearing House.

16. With regards to the elimination of the need for confirmed letters of credit, the Bureau recalled that under REPSS, the requirement by the exporter for confirmation of the letter of credit by a first class International Bank would fall away as Central Banks are directly involved in REPSS and provide all the assurances required by the exporter to have its Commercial Bank deal directly with the importers Bank.

17. As far as prefunding of accounts held at the Bank of Mauritius, it was pointed out that these funds would be treated as Reserves and would generate comparable returns as is received from other sources. Details of prefunding would be prepared and sent to all Central Banks.

Decisions

18. The Bureau decided as follows:

i) Took note of the above Progress Report and work plan on the Implementation of REPSS;

ii) Central Banks should expedite the signature of the various agreements pertaining to REPSS and its Operations and prefunding of their USD and EUR accounts respectively; and

iii) REPSS Operations be fully supported and aggressively promoted by all Central Banks, as directed by the COMESA Authority of Heads of State and Government, for the benefit of the region.

Audited Financial Statements of the COMESA Clearing House for the Year Ended 31 March 2009 (Agenda Item 3(b))

19. The Bureau noted the presentation of the COMESA Clearing House on the Audited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2009, which is contained in Annex I of this report. This showed a total income of US$ 871,223 against expenditures amounting to US$ 554,448 resulting in an excess of income over expenditure of US$ 316,775

20. The representative of the Clearing House informed the Bureau that following discussions with the auditors it was decided that the outstanding audit for the year ended 31 March 2010 would be carried out in November 2010. Auditing for the year ending 31 March 2011 will then be carried out in June 2011.

Decision

21. The Bureau approved the Audited Financial Statements of the COMESA Clearing House for the year ended 31 March 2009.

Interim Accounts for the COMESA Clearing House for the Period Ended 31 March 2010 (Agenda Item 3(c))

22. The Clearing House presented the Interim Accounts for the period ended 31 March 2010 which is contained in Annex II of this report. The approved budget for the period April 2009 to March 2010 anticipated revenues amounting to US$ 863,950. Actual Receipts amounted to US$ 864,822 resulting from an increase in interest earnings of US$ 872 and with expenditures at US$ 812,262, an excess of income over expenditure of US$ 52,560 is expected for that period.

Decision

23. The Bureau approved of the Interim Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2010.

COMESA Clearing House Budget for the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 (Agenda Item 3(d))

24. The representative of the COMESA Clearing House presented the COMESA Clearing House Budget for the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 which is contained in Annex III of this report

25. The Bureau noted that in view of the fact that the Bureau of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks could not be convened earlier, the Chairman had approved, on behalf of the Bureau, an amount of US$ 282,300.00, for the COMESA Clearing House. expenditure for the period 1 April 2010 – 31 July 2010, pending consideration of its Budget by the Bureau at its 31st Meeting on 4 August 2010. COMESA Secretariat was also requested to transfer that amount, from the PTA Travellers Cheque Fund Account, into the Clearing House Account at the Bank of Mauritius.

26. In presenting the proposed budget, the Clearing House highlighted the following:

i) The Budget incorporated all activities related to REPSS live operations and the aggressive marketing campaign as directed by Central Bank Governors, the Council of Ministers and COMESA Heads of State and Government;

ii) The main activities that have/will be undertaken during the period April 2010 – March 2011 are detailed out in the Work Plan contained in the Status Report on the Implementation of REPSS (Agenda Item 3). They include the following: (a) Aggressive Marketing of REPSS in the region; (b) Follow up on opening of Settlement Accounts at Bank of Mauritius and signing of agreements;(c) Operating of REPSS in Live Mode initially with the Central Banks of Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan, Swaziland and Zambia; (d) Holding of REPSS Stakeholders Meetings at Central Banks for Progress Review; (e) Holding of Workshops for all Central Banks for REPSS Progress Review and System Enhancements; (f) Holding of Sensitisation Workshops at National Levels; and (g) Off- site support to Central Banks.

iii) SWIFT and other charges relate to SWIFT annual fees, SWIFT Alliance Interface (annual), SWIFT Bureau Charges payable for the current year of operations to Fin-X/Bankserv, including operational costs and VPN IP yearly costs. SWIFT services having been transferred to the Settlement Bank, the Bank of Mauritius will, at a later stage, bill the Clearing House for costs incurred in providing this service. It was also pointed out that the provision of settlement services, as well as the hosting and operation of REPSS, by the Bank of Mauritius will also be billed at cost when the system starts generating revenues

iv) Meetings & Travel relate to the holding of Sensitisation Workshops at national level in all participating Member States with Central Banks, commercial banks and other Stakeholders and Regional Meetings for RPSS Progress Reviews; and

v) An increase in office expenses is in connection with office repairs, renovation and an uplift of office premises. This explains the increase of US $48,100 in the proposed budget, circulated to Bureau members by the Chairman from US $863,950 to US $912,050.

Decisions

27. The Bureau approved:

i) The Clearing House Budget for the period 1 April 2010 – 31 March 2011 for a total amount of US$ 912,050.00, inclusive of US$ 282,300.00 already approved for the period 1 April 2010- 31 July 2011; and

ii) Requested COMESA Secretariat to transfer the total amount of US $912,050.00 from the PTA Travellers Cheque Fund Account, into the COMESA Clearing House Account at the Bank of Mauritius.

Status of Implementation of the Decisions of the 14th Meeting of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks (Agenda Item 3(e))

28. Under this agenda item, the Bureau noted the following progress that had been made in the implementation of the decisions of the Meeting of the Fourteenth Meeting of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks:

29. Decisions taken on Page 18, Para 78:

i) Central Banks should expedite the signature of the various agreements pertaining to REPSS and its Operations and Opening of Settlement Accounts at the Bank of Mauritius; and

ii) Full support be given to marketing of REPSS Operations, as directed by the COMESA Authority of Heads of State and Government, for the benefit of the region.

Actions Taken

The status of implementation of the Regional Payment and Settlement Systems (REPSS) is reported under agenda item 3.

30. Decisions taken on Page 21 Paragraph 82

i) Member States need to implement the recommendations of the AACB workshop and COMESA study on harmonisation of concepts, methodologies and statistical framework of macroeconomic statistics.

Action taken

Member countries have been requested by COMESA Secretariat to report the Status of Implementation. All Member Central Banks are expected to report the status by 30th August 2010.

ii) Member States should adopt and ratify the African Charter on Statistics which had been adopted by the African Union in February 2009.

Action taken

Comoros, Congo D.R., Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda and Zambia signed the Charter. Mauritius is the only African Country which also ratified the Charter.

iii) COMESA Secretariat should mobilise resources for capacity building on Multilateral Fiscal Surveillance.

Action taken

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is providing technical and financial assistance for building capacity on Multilateral Fiscal Surveillance Framework for the COMESA region.

iv) Member States be urged to scale up investment in agriculture and infrastructure

Action taken

A number of COMESA Member Countries namely Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Swaziland and Uganda signed the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Compact in order to enhance their agricultural development.

31. Decisions taken on Page 32 Paragraph 115

i) Preparation of Multilateral Surveillance framework for macroeconomic convergence jointly with Fiscal Affairs Committee; and

ii) Preparation of legal framework for multilateral surveillance jointly with Fiscal Affairs Committee.

Action taken

AfDB in collaboration with the COMESA Secretariat is undertaking the study on Multilateral Fiscal Surveillance Framework.

iii) Undertake training on econometric analysis of macroeconomic policies.

Action taken

The training on econometric analysis of macroeconomic policies has been conducted held from 31st May, 2010 to 4th June 2010. Ten (10) Member Countries’ Central Banks namely Central Banks of Congo D.R., Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan, Seychelles and Zambia participated in the workshop.

iv) Hold sensitization workshops on COMESA Monetary Cooperation Programme.

Actions taken

i) Sensitisation material in the form of a booklet has been prepared and will be published;

ii) Workshops will be held in 4th quarter of 2010

32. Decisions taken on Page 37 Paragraph 125

i) Conduct workshops on financial stability assessment in liaison with bodies such as the FSI, World Bank, MEFMI, EastAFRITAC, etc

ii) Conduct workshops on regulation of capital markets, insurance and pension sectors

Action Taken

Workshops will be held in September and October 2010.

Decisions

iii) Establish independent Financial Stability Unit and a multi-disciplinary Financial Stability Committee;

Action Taken

Member Countries have been requested to report on the Status of Implementation of the above decisions. The Secretariat received a report only from Bank of Mauritius. All Member Central Banks are urged to submit the report in order to enable the Secretariat to prepare a consolidated report to be presented to the Fifteenth Meeting of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks which will be held in November 2010.

33. Decisions taken on Page 39 Paragraph 129

i) CMI be hosted by the Central Bank of Kenya on the basis of its bid offer; and

ii) The Governors mandated the Bureau to take whatever steps necessary to make CMI operational.

Action Taken

The Central Bank of Kenya has signed the Charter. The Secretariat will send the Charter to all Central Banks for signature.

34. Decisions taken on Page 40 Para 132

At future meetings, special arrangements should be made to allow interventions on topical subjects of direct interest to central bankers by key speakers from both public and private sectors

Action Taken

The Experts of the Bureau of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks suggested the following two themes for presentations at the Fifteenth Meeting of the COMESA Committee of Governors of the Central Banks:

i. The Impact of Austerity Measures in Europe on the Economies of African Countries; and

ii. The impact on developing countries of the recently introduced financial regulations being implemented by industrialized countries, including proposed measures by BIS and other similar organisations.

Action to be taken

The COMESA Secretariat would liaise with the Central Bank of Sudan to finalize the choice of the topical themes and resource persons for the Fifteenth Meeting of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks scheduled in Sudan from 3-4 November 2010.

Draft Agenda for the 15th Meeting of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks (Agenda item 3(f))

35. The Bureau agreed on the draft agenda for the Fifteenth Meeting of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks as contained at Annex IV. The Bureau noted that the Fifteenth Meeting of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks is scheduled to be held from 3rd to 4th November 2010 in Khartoum, Sudan. The meeting of Governors would be preceded by the meeting of the Finance and Monetary Affairs Committee to be held from 31st October to 2nd November 2010

Any Other Business (Agenda item 4)

36. The Assistant Governor of Bank of Sudan Mr. Mohamed Elhassan E. Elsanousi conveyed the greetings from Dr. Sabir Mohamed Hassan, the Governor of Bank of Sudan to the Bureau members of the COMESA Committee of Central Bank Governors. He informed the Bureau that Bank of Sudan would create a Committee which will make all the necessary arrangements for convening the forthcoming meeting of the COMESA Committee of Central Bank Governors in Khartoum, Sudan in November 2010. He stated that Bank of Sudan is looking forward to the attendance of all Governors of all Central Banks in the COMESA region in the meeting.

Adoption of the Report and Closure of the Meeting (Agenda item 5)

37. The Bureau adopted the report with amendments.

38. The Vice-Governor of Central Bank of Burundi Mrs Consolata Nkurikiye, moved a vote of thanks on behalf of the Governors and the delegates and on her own behalf she thanked Bank of Mauritius for the warm hospitality accorded to the delegates. She thanked the Chairman for the efficient manner in which he chaired the meeting. She also thanked COMESA Secretariat staff and the experts of the Bureau for the work well done.

39. In closing the meeting the Chairman thanked the delegates for their useful contributions and expressed his satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting. He also thanked the experts, the interpreters and COMESA Secretariat staff for the job well done. He wished the delegates safe journey back home.

Annex IV

DRAFT AGENDA FOR THE FIFTEENTH MEETING OF THE COMESA

COMMITTEE OF GOVERNORS OF CENTRAL BANKS

1. Opening of the Meeting;

2. Election of the Bureau;

3. Adoption of the Agenda and Organization of Work;

4. Consideration of the Report of the Fifteenth Meeting of the Committee on Finance and Monetary Affairs on the following:

a) Status of Implementation of Decisions of the 14th Meeting of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks;

b) Status Report on the Implementation of the Regional Payment and Settlement System (REPSS);

c) Report by member Countries towards Achieving Macroeconomic Convergence;

d) Report of the Eighth Meeting of the Monetary and Exchange Rates Policies Sub-Committee on the following:

i) A Study on Multilateral Fiscal Surveillance Framework for COMESA;

ii) Report on Training on Econometric Analysis of Macroeconomic Policies; and

iii) Work Plan of the Monetary and Exchange Rates Policies Sub-Committee for the year 2011.

e) Report of the Fifth Meeting of the Financial System Development and Stability Sub-Committee on the following:

i) Report on Training on Assessment of the Financial System Development and Stability; and

ii) Report by Member Countries on Implementation of Assessment Framework for Financial System Stability; and

iii) Work Plan for the Financial System Development and Stability Sub-Committee.

5. Presentations on Topical Subjects of Direct Interest to the Governors

6. Any Other Business

7. Adoption of the Report and Closure of the Meeting.

Annex V

List of participants/Liste des Participants

Burundi

Mrs Spès Bibara, First Deputy Governor, Bank of the Republic of Burundi, P.O. Box 705, Bujumbura, Burundi

Mrs Consolata Nkurikiye, Head of Foreign Banking Operations, Bank of the Republic of Burundi, P.O. Box 705, Tel : +257 2222 2732, Fax : +257 2222 3128; 2222 0001, E-mail : consonkuri@yahoo.fr; cnkurikiye@brb-

Egypt

Mr. Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, Senior Advisor to the Governor, Central Bank of Egypt, 54 El-Gamhoria St., Cairo, Egypt , Tel: +2 0123933393, Fax: +2 0225976041, E-mail: m_aziz@.eg,

Yousry Mohamed Abd El-Rahman, Assistant Manager, Central Bank of Egypt, 54 El-Gamhoria St., Cairo, Egypt, Central Bank of Egypt, 8th Floor, Tel: +201 01 256654, E-mail: yousry-abdelrahman@

Mauritius

Mr. Rundheersing Bheenick, Governor, Bank of Mauritius, Port-Louis, Tel : +230 202 3953, Fax : +230 208 9204, E-mail : governor@bom.intnet.mu

Mr. Hemraz Jankee, Chief Economist, Bank of Mauritius, 15th Floor, Bank of Mauritius Tower, Sir William Newton Street, Port Louis, Mauritius, Tel: +230 202 3976; +230 211 6244 (Dir.), Fax: +230 211 7020, E-mail: hojankee@bom.intnet.mu

Mr. Thakoor Dhanesswurnath, Head – Payment Systems, Bank of Mauritius, C/O Bank of Mauritius, Port Louis, Tel: +230 2023935, E-mail : dthakoor@bom.intnet.mu

Ms Nitisha Mihdidin, Analyst, Chief Economist’s Office, Bank of Mauritius, 15th Floor, Bank of Mauritius Tower, Sir William Newton Street, Port Louis, Mauritius Tel: +230 202 3849, Fax: +230 211 7020, E-mail: nmihdidi@bom.intnet.mu

Sudan

Mr. Mohamed Elhassan E. Elsanousi, Assistant Governor, Central Bank of Sudan, Khartoum, P.O. Box 313, Tel: +249 912394396, E-mail: mohamed.elhassan@.sd, Khartoum, Sudan

Dr. Nagmeldin H. Ibrahim, Deputy Director, Policies Department, Central Bank of Sudan, Khartoum, P.O. Box 313, Tel: +249 18705 6105, Fax: +249 183781341, E-mail: nagmeldin@

Abdel Rahman Mohamed Abdel Rahman, Division Chief, Central Bank of Sudan, P.O. Box 313, Khartoum, Tel: +249 912215807, Fax: +249 183 781341, E-mail: arahmanm40@

Swaziland

Mr. Martin G. Dlamini, Governor, Central Bank of Swaziland, Tel : +268 4082226, Fax : +268 4040013, E-mail : martin@.sz

Patrick Ndzinisa, Manager Policy Research and Macroeconomic Analysis, Central Bank of Swaziland, P.O. Box 546 Mbabane, Swaziland, Tel : +268 4082204, Fax : +268 404 0038, E-mail : patrickn@.sz

COMESA CLEARING HOUSE

Dr. Kombo J. Moyana, Executive Secretary, COMESA Clearing House, P.O. Box 2940, Harare, Tel: +263 4 793911, 726246-8; Fax: +263 4 498497

Mr. Mahmood Mansoor, Chief Technical Adviser, COMESA Clearing House, P.O. Box 2940, Harare, Tel: +263 4 495189; fax: +263 4 498497; Email: mmansoor@

COMESA Secretariat/Secrétariat du COMESA, P.O. Box 30051, Lusaka, Zambia, Tel: +260 211 229726, Fax: +260 211 225107, E-mail: secgen@comesa.int

Mr. Stephen Karangizi, Assistant Secretary General (Programmes) skarangizi@comesa.int

Mr. Ibrahim Zeidy, Senior Monetary Economist; izeidy@comesa.int

Ms Rosemary M. Musiwa, Administrative Assistant, rmusiwa@comesa.int

Interpreters/Translators

Mr. Percy Yiptong, Interpréter, Cyport Produktion, Buis d’Olive Tamarin, Tel: +230 250 5847, Fax: +230 210 9459, E-mail: koolkreol1@intnet.mu

Ms Roselys Vencatachellum, Interpreter, Port Louis, Mauritius

Ms Marie-Claire Lassémillante, Translator, 8 bis, Stein Street, Beau-Bassin, Mauritius.

Tel/Fax: +230 4645382, Mob: (230) 7280862 E-mail: flasse@orange.mu

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download