An improvement in the IMF policy toolkit and financing instruments would assist in closing the gaps in the financial system and, in so doing, assist with improving the resilience of economies to exogenous shocks. The IMF and regional institutions in Africa should further explore ways to improve access for African countries to the GFSN beyond what is available at multilateral financial institutions.
Mr Ian Macfarlane, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, noted in a recent speech that, between June 1991 and December 1996, both New Zealand and Australia had enjoyed economic growth of 3.6 percent, and that that growth had been faster than growth in any of the other 16 developed countries against which he compared us, with the exception of  BIS Review 92/1997  -4-  Norway and Ireland.