Furthermore, at the end of the workshop, participants should be able to: •  Better understand the linkages between macroeconomic programming and strategic planning;  •  Plan steps to be taken with respect to sustainable capacity development for macroeconomic modelling and strategic budgeting at various country levels; and  •  Strengthen the national ownership and leadership in MDG-based planning and implementation process. Mr Chairman, Central banks the world over have a critical role to play in a country’s economic development. As you may all be aware, central banks’ monetary and supervisory policies are implemented to ensure that there is price and financial system stability to promote macroeconomic development. In this regard, monetary policies or any other policy for that matter that are not consistent with the MDGs in the current macroeconomic dispensation should be considered irrelevant to the welfare of our countries. It is for this reason that, without exception, monetary policies in the developing countries have to be MDG-consistent. Price stability The primary objective of most central banks is price stability, which is achieved through the implementation of appropriate monetary policy. High inflation is a major source of concern to any country as it poses a threat to economic development. It is in this context that a central bank’s primary role is to reduce inflation to low and stable levels.
(c)  Increased public and investor confidence  Price stability in a country leads to investor and public confidence in the economy and results in increased foreign capital inflows. As alluded to earlier, a relatively stable exchange rate coupled with low inflation facilitates long-term planning for investors. (d)  Improved external competitiveness  In countries were there is low and stable inflation, exports become competitive and this has often led to the increase in export earnings, thereby improving the Balance of Payments (BoP) and ultimately contributing to accelerated economic growth. In this context, the benefits of a stable currency are clear as noted by Jeff Sachs in the UN’s recent report “A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals” which states that: “The private sector needs a supportive macroeconomic framework. International and domestic macroeconomic stability minimizes uncertainty for businesses. Businesses cannot buy inputs or sell products internationally when the local currency is unstable against other currencies – or if the country is experiencing high inflation with constant readjustment of prices and loss of confidence” 1 . (e)  Sustained economic growth  Mr Chairman, when a country attains price stability, economic growth on sustained basis is likely to follow. Accelerated economic growth, of at least 8% per year, is a sure way of ensuring that most of the MDGs are attained in our developing countries. This has the positive impact of reducing poverty levels of the people as it increases their disposable incomes and eventually improve their standard of living.