As before, the Riksbank will be publishing an inflation report four times a year, with a more comprehensive survey of inflationary pressure in the Swedish economy in the coming 24 months. 1  BIS Review 18/1999  The Executive Board held its first monetary policy meeting last Thursday and discussed inflation prospects. The Board then decided to lower the repo rate 0.25 percentage point and also lowered the corridor in which the repo rate lies by 0.5 percentage point. The Board’s decisions and the arguments behind them were published in a communiqué on Friday. Another feature of the new Riksbank organisation is that each member of the Executive Board has an individual mandate and one vote. All the members are in a position to make speeches and give interviews on monetary policy in which they express their own view of the situation. It follows that the members can hold different opinions and may also express themselves somewhat differently about joint positions. Today I shall base my remarks on the picture that was used for last week’s Executive Board discussion and summarised in the communiqué. When I elaborate on the communiqué it is my personal opinion I am expressing, though that does not mean that other Board members were not of broadly the same mind. Poorer international prospects In the course of last year, international economic prospects became a good deal worse.
It also enables the regulator to focus supervisory attention on the areas and institutions that pose the greatest risk to financial system stability. BIS Review 159/2008  1  Thus, the supervisory authorities are in a position to identify systemic risk factors and devise intervention measures aimed at forestalling systemic failures. The added advantage of this approach is that it brings about optimal utilisation of supervisory resources. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to inform you that following our initial efforts dating back to 1999 to introduce risk based supervision, the Bank of Zambia has this year fully adopted RBS. As a result it is expected that there will be enhanced supervision of banks and other financial institutions. Let me also state that the BoZ is committed to implementing the Basel II Capital Accord but stands ready to review this stance in the face of the ongoing global financial crisis. As you know Basel II is intended to make banks operate at capital levels which are commensurate with their risk profiles. To this end, the BoZ just issued risk management guidelines. Distinguished Workshop Participants As I conclude, I wish to urge the workshop participants to participate actively in the deliberations and use this opportunity to tap knowledge and skills from the vast experience of the resource persons. This workshop provides us with a unique opportunity to share our respective country experiences and challenges.