Against the background of a slow-down in total domestic expenditure in the second half of the year, the growth in imports levelled off and, with some good increases in exports, the current account of the balance of payments improved to an annualised deficit of R4.7 billion in the fourth quarter of last year.
*  *  *  I am thankful to Rakesh Mohan, Usha Thorat, Deepak Mohanty and Saibal Ghosh, all from the Reserve Bank of India, for their valuable input. Governor Loi Bakani, Chairman, SEACEN Board of Governors, Deputy Governors, Hans Genberg of SEACEN, Madhusudan Mohanty of BIS, distinguished central bankers and friends.