The presence of banks in districts is going to foster the necessary savings for investments that the country really needs in order to face the millennium challenges, related to the fight against poverty. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Parliament has just analysed the Economic and Social Plan of the Government and the Budget for 2007, two important instruments of economic policy.
For next year, that is calendar 2003, our forecast is for growth through the year of 3¾ per cent. The fact that it is higher than the current financial year rests importantly on the assumption that there is a recovery from the drought in the second half of the year, and that the world economic recovery gradually picks up momentum through the year.