My colleagues and I always look forward with bated breath to this evening at the end of every year. This dinner represents for us the highlight of every year as we gather with you to break bread and discuss issues of common interest and relevance to our various countries. 2004 has indeed been a momentous year for the global economy.
One of the distinguishing features of this year has been the oil price. When I joined the central bank in 1998, the north sea brent crude oil price was $ per barrel. Since then, the oil price has shot up quite considerably.