National Savings Month is always important to South Africans, and in particular to us at the South African Reserve Bank, because it gives us an opportunity to speak to families and consumers, rather than to economists, investment analysts and financial-sector executives. Our work looks as though it is dominated by statistics and macroeconomic trends, but it is in actual fact defined by the task of helping South Africans to deal with sometimes overwhelming financial pressures that they have to face, such as the international financial crisis. Our duty is to reduce those pressures and help to protect citizens against such crises. There is no doubt that South Africans would have been better prepared for the crisis if they had owed less money and had more savings. Many people depended on easy credit and did not spend their money wisely, which meant that they and their families were caught out by the recent recession. The suddenness and seriousness of the downturn were a shock at national level, in business and in families. That is why Savings Month is essential.  One of the Bank’s main goals is to try to create an environment in which people who are active in the economy can plan for the future, knowing that their efforts will be worthwhile and their nest eggs safe. This we achieve by making sure that there is financial stability and low inflation. However, on our own we can only provide an environment in which the right behaviours can form: society and its institutions and habits have to respond properly. This response would mean saving and investing enough, and in useful ways. By doing so, the country’s economy would be strengthened. The South African Savings Institute (SASI) and the South African Reserve Bank As an institution, therefore, the Bank supports the work and years of effort put in by the South African Savings Institute (SASI) in contributing towards creating this kind of environment. On its own, SASI also can never hope to change the saving behaviour of South Africans in any important way if all of us do not agree to save. That is why, as the South African Reserve Bank, we have always been in favour of the savings initiative, in particular Savings Month, because it takes the message to all corners of our economy and places the debate right inside the household. Encouraging people to save is, therefore, extremely important as part of the Bank’s duties. For that reason, we pride ourselves on having offered ourselves as one of the midwives for the birth of the institute. We were among the handful of institutions that started SASI about nine years ago and we have proudly continued with this relationship. We saw an important role for the institute in bringing the public together to support the cause of savings . . . and we have not been disappointed. The Bank is happy to go on lending a hand. Recently, we worked together with SASI on the Teach Children to Save Campaign. The specific focus of this campaign was on the Coin Re-circulation Project, which had as its theme “Every cent counts”. We sponsored the moneyboxes that are circulated to learners to encourage them to collect coins that have gone out of circulation. As any dedicated saver will tell you, all those five cent, two cent and one cent coins soon add up. Not only that, this is a basic building block for creating a good custom of saving, because it is at the very early stage of developing society. Insurance for the poor By focusing on keeping prices steady and fighting to keep inflation low, we at the South African Reserve Bank are creating the best atmosphere for our society in which people will be helped to save and to do long-term planning. We are providing the insurance no other insurer can hope to provide, and that is to the poor and low-income earners of South Africa. What we are doing is to protect their small amount of resources by making sure that they still have the power to buy or can afford to buy with their money. This is the best gift that a government can give to its people. Keeping the rate at which people save high is a very necessary part o