J D Rogers: Debt reporting in Sierra Leone Keynote address by Dr J D Rogers, Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone, at the opening ceremony of the WAIFEM Regional Course on Debt Reporting and the IMF/World Bank Debt Compilers Guide, at the Bank of Sierra Leone recreational complex, Kingtom, 7 August 2006. *  *  *  Director General, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), Officials of the Commonwealth Secretariat & The International Monetary Fund (IMF), Distinguished Guests, Course Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen. 1.0  Introduction  On behalf of the President, His Excellency, Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabba, the Government and people of the Republic of Sierra Leone, I am pleased to bid you all a warm welcome to Freetown. Let me start by expressing our sincere thanks and appreciation to the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), the Commonwealth Secretariat (COMSEC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for choosing Sierra Leone as the venue for this Regional Course on Debt Reporting and the IMF/World Bank Debt Compilers Guide. The theme of the course is relevant and timely. Let me thank the organizers of the course for this initiative which would go a long way to strengthening overall debt management capacity in the sub-region. Ladies and Gentlemen, 2.0  Principles for compilation of gross external debt position  The need for comprehensive, comparable, and reliable data on external debt for informed decisions by policymakers, financial markets and other users of economic statistics cannot be over stressed.
With low unemployment, solid wage growth, and ample job openings, all indicators show that the strength of the labor market is at a level consistent with my view of maximum employment. Inflationary Pressures The other side of our mandate is price stability, and this is where our greatest challenge now lies. Inflation is far too high. In February, inflation-as measured by the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index-was nearly 6½ percent. And high inflation is a key concern in many countries around the world. Even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the rapid global economic rebound had driven up prices for oil and many other commodities. Higher inflation is especially detrimental for those who are least able to meet the growing cost of essentials like food, housing, and transportation. The war in Ukraine and the global response present even greater challenges and uncertainty. For example, Russia and Ukraine are large exporters of key materials, including neon, palladium, and platinum. Those materials are used in the production of a wide array of products, from auto parts to computer chips. Even before the war,  2/5  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  manufacturers were confronting shortages of important inputs. Further disruptions to these key products could create spillovers to economies across the globe. But there are differences in the ways in which countries are experiencing inflation. In the United States, we are now seeing elevated inflation across many categories of goods and services.