Caleb M Fundanga: Consolidated supervision Remarks by Dr Caleb M Fundanga, Governor of the Bank of Zambia, at the Joint MEFMI-FSI Regional Seminar or on consolidated supervision, Lusaka, 19 October 2009. *  *  *  The Executive Director of MEFMI, Dr. Elias Ngalande The FSI, Senior Financial Sector Specialist, Mr Amarendra Mohan The Director, Financial Sector Management Programme of MEFMI, Mr Alphious Ncube Distinguished Resource Persons, Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen It is my honour and privilege to officiate at this regional seminar on Consolidated Supervision jointly organised by the Financial Sector Management Programme of MEFMI and the Financial Stability Institute of the Bank for International Settlements. May I also take this opportunity to welcome and thank our distinguished resource persons, for accepting invitations to come for this important seminar. It is my hope and trust that their participation will enrich the deliberations of this seminar. Before I delve into the intricacies of the seminar, I would like to applaud MEFMI, and the FSI for consistently working together in the region to upgrade the banking supervisory skills. I am reliably informed that at least once every two years, the two organisations organise a high level seminar on a topical issue. It is therefore befitting for me to commend the two institutions for the work well done.
Chart: Marked fall in oil prices 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  On top of this, there has been a substantial fall in oil prices as a result of a sharp fall in global oil consumption. Despite production cuts, total oil production is substantially higher than consumption, with little spare storage capacity. Against this background, oil prices are likely to remain low in the coming period. Futures prices indicate that oil prices will pick up, but to a markedly lower level than the level we have been used to seeing in recent years. There were already prospects at the beginning of the year that petroleum investment would decline. Owing to the fall in oil prices, oil companies have cut their investment plans. Low oil prices affect the outlook for the Norwegian economy. Chart: Substantial krone depreciation The fall in oil prices and general uncertainty in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak have weakened the krone exchange rate. On 19 March, the krone hit record-weak levels against a number of currencies. At that time, uncertainty in the NOK market was particularly high, and limited liquidity contributed to amplifying NOK movements. Against this background, Norges Bank announced that there could be a need to intervene in the NOK market. In order to support a wellfunctioning NOK market, Norges Bank has made extraordinary NOK purchases totalling NOK 3.5 billion in the foreign exchange market. Chart: Money market turbulence Financial market volatility also led to high credit premiums.