1/3  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  A country's currency is a fundamental component of its national identity. Our banknotes and coin have lived through South Africa's rich and dark past. About 230 years ago, Dutch Governor Joachim van Plettenberg first introduced handwritten paper money in the Cape.
A recently released study by the Federal Reserve Bank of  1  Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers, November 2007. BIS Review 146/2007  1  Boston attributes most of the recent rise in foreclosures in Massachusetts to declining house prices. 2 Borrowers who have lost their jobs, not surprisingly, may have difficulty meeting their mortgage payments.