This principle is embodied in the French novel “The Three Musketeers” by Alexandre Dumas. Set in the 17th century, the novel recounts the journey of D’Artagnan, who left for Paris to join the Musketeers of the Guard, and how he overcomes all adversities. Together with him are three musketeers with contrasting personalities: Athos who is intelligent; Porthos who is adventurous; and Aramis who is true and faithful. But together they form a well-balanced trio that supports D’Artagnan on his journey. The three musketeers today are Finance, Technology, and Trust, corresponding to Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Society is D’Artagnan. Can the three modern musketeers work together to support Society? Can they complement one another? Can they click? 1 / 10  BIS central bankers' speeches  Finance – the Astute Musketeer Losing Appeal Let me introduce the first musketeer – Finance. Like Athos, Finance is wise but can be complicated, and to some extent, mysterious and nonaccessible to many people. As a result, Finance – at least in its traditional form – is losing its appeal. Consumers find that banks’ processes are too cumbersome to navigate. They are increasingly looking to technology firms for their needs. Some of them are even losing trust in the ability of banks to act in their interest. Bill Gates once said: “People need banking, not banks”. It is a reminder that, to survive, Finance needs to be intuitive, innovative and customer-centric. Technology – the Musketeer who can Transform Finance This is where the second musketeer – Technology – comes in.
Similarly, the Kwacha depreciated against the Pound Sterling and Euro by 3.6% and 8.3%, respectively. This was partly on account of the US dollar appreciation following the strengthening of the US economy during the latter part of the year. The Pound and Euro weakness moderated on the back of optimism that their economies would continue to rebound. The Kwacha, appreciated against the rand by 10.7% to an average K0.5596/ZAR, reflecting the slowdown in mining output, following continued labour unrest in the South African mining sector. In the first quarter of 2014, the Kwacha depreciated by 10.0% to K6.09 per US dollar. This development was largely attributed to a high demand due to a higher growth in imports relative to exports, as well as investor sentiments associated with the tapering of quantitative easing in the United States of America coupled with falling copper prices on the global markets. Similar weakening of currencies was observed in most emerging market economies such as Ghana, South Africa and Turkey. It should be noted that the Bank of Zambia has continued to implement a market determined exchange rate and has intervened in the market to smooth out volatility and accumulate reserves. According to a recent study conducted by Professor John Weeks of the University of London, there is strong evidence that, the Bank of Zambia’s participation in the foreign exchange market to minimise volatility in the exchange rate has in general been effective.