For the first time in more than 30 years, there has been a marked revival of
growth in much of Africa, and inflation has been brought under control in a
large number of African countries. Central bankers from the region, meeting
recently at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, held
informal discussions on the policy issues they face, both individually and as a
group, to build on these developments.
Opening the meeting, which was attended by participants from both industrialised
and developing nations, Malcolm Knight, BIS General Manager, noted that
"the steady decline in inflation across the whole continent there
are, sadly, one or two dramatic exceptions is a justifiable source of
pride for many African central banks, and this in itself creates an environment
that favours development."
Papers delivered at the meeting have been published in a special conference
volume, Central banks and the challenge of development.
Amartya Sen, Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University and a
winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, spoke about how "
the world now pays more attention to much broader indicators of economic
success than GDP
moving away from the view that development is a very
severe, austere and largely painful process, which so dominated the thinking of
the development elite and international policymakers earlier on". He also
underlined the key role played by central banks.
In his paper, Professor Sen points out that "central banks are not only
public agencies with special roles in financial leadership and monetary
policies, they are also important parts of the general political landscape of a
country". He continues, "I am not, of course, arguing for central
bankers to become obsessively "central talkers". But I would submit
that they do have an important role in democratic public reasoning, in addition
to their specialised tasks in monetary and financial affairs".
Available in English and French, Central banks and the challenge of development
is now on the BIS website.