Foreign reserves, I am pleased to say, have held up very well this year, helped by the strong growth in domestic exports and higher tourism receipts as well as lower import demand. Reserves are currently around $ billion, equivalent to 4.0 months of import cover. Not too long ago, foreign reserves had reached critical levels of below 2 month of imports.
While inflation and reserves are stable, domestic economic recovery this year has not been as firm as earlier expected, thus posing some concerns to our objectives and the economy’s future growth. As such, it is critical that national policies are aimed at facilitating sustainable economic growth which will create long term macroeconomic stability.