Welcoming address by Mr T.T. Mboweni, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, at the First Macroeconomic Policy Challenges for South Africa Conference held at the South African Reserve Bank Conference Centre, Pretoria 22-24 October 2006 Honoured guests,Colleagues,Ladies and Gentlemen, 1.            Introduction It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to Pretoria on the occasion of the first South African Reserve Bank (Bank) conference entitled “Macroeconomic Policy Challenges for South Africa”. I would like to extend a warm welcome to the keynote speakers and presenters of the papers and to all the discussants who will be participating in our proceedings. All those attending the conference are likewise heartily welcomed and we hope you will participate actively in the series of discussions. This conference is the first in a series of conferences that the Bank plans to hold every second year. It is our contribution to a process of open interaction between economists concerned with macroeconomic and central banking issues. The conference series should further serve as a vehicle for bringing together researchers from academic and financial institutions. The main purpose is to provide a platform where current ideas on macroeconomic issues can be shared. This should signal clearly our commitment to a continuous and active exchange of information between the Bank, academia and private-sector economists. This initiative has been inspired by the examples set by a number of central banks.  Other central banks that host similar conferences in collaboration with universities include the Central Bank of Chile, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve Banks in the United States, the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of Canada, and the Deutsche Bundesbank. Generally, the aim is to facilitate debate on monetary policy and related issues. Our economists regularly participate in some of these conferences and we are pleased to be able to provide a similar forum. The proceedings of the conference will be published, in order to reach a wider audience. 2.            The relationship between the Bank and academia The Bank’s relationship with local universities has been evolving over time. In 1994 the Bank launched a 12-month Cadet Programme providing young graduates with high potential the opportunity to learn more about the operations of a central bank and to gain first-hand practical experience. The programme is managed by the SARB College in collaboration with subject experts from leading local and international academic institutions. To offer life-long learning opportunities to these learners, the College has embarked on a process to develop and register qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework from levels 4 to 6, in collaboration with formal educational institutions. Regular contact is maintained between academics and researchers in the various departments of the Bank and other central banks. A number of conferences and workshops have been organised by the Bank in the past, and an increasing number of academics have been presenting their research findings at seminars in the Bank. During the past two years, a number of collaborative research projects have also been initiated and completed. This latter initiative has become more formalised with the launch this year of the Visiting Research Fellows Programme which will enable leading academics or researchers from other central banks to spend time at our Head Office pursuing their research and interacting with Bank staff. Visitors from the academic world will thus be able to discuss their latest research work and collaborate with Bank staff as co-authors of research papers on a regular basis. The Bank also collaborates formally with tertiary institutions as part of the strategy to enhance central banking skills and knowledge in South Africa. To this end, the Bank is currently sponsoring a Chair in Monetary Economics at the University of Pretoria. This should ensure the development and promotion of research and tuition in the field of monetary economics at the post-g