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Bank governor Pierre Laporte said this on Tuesday during a ceremony at the International Conference Centre to mark its 31st anniversary.

The event was attended by President James Michel, Vice-President Joseph Belmont, cabinet ministers, members of the National Assembly and of the diplomatic corps, and chief justice Frederick Egonda-Ntende.

Ten people from the government, private sector and non-governmental organisations gave presentations and answered questions from guests during the event, which was chaired by the executive director of the East African constituency of the African Development Bank, Peter Sinon.

The panel members were Mr Laporte, principal secretary for finance Ahmed Afif, chairman of the Seychelles Bankers’ Association Jocelyn Ah-Yu, chairman of the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dr V. Ramadoss, Seychelles Breweries’ managing director Aubrey Lucas representing the manufacturing sector, Beatty Hoareau representing fisheries, small business entrepreneur Santasha Hoareau, environmentalist Nirmal Shah, the Rev Christine Benoit representing civil society, and Sheera Philoe, a Polytechnic student representing the youth.

Mr Laporte said the bank will increase its efforts to improve its internal controls and audit systems so as to strengthen its transparency and accountability.

“An independent central bank cannot succeed if it is not accountable to the people it serves and for the policies it adopts,” he said.

He said there has been good cooperation between the bank and the Ministry of Finance in implementing “the Central Bank’s side of the programme”.

“This coordination of monetary and fiscal policy has been critical for the success of our programme,” he said.
Mr Laporte said he recognised “the immense contribution of the International Monetary Fund” at the levels of its board, programme mission team and technical experts, saying their contribution in key areas like monetary policy framework, banking supervision, safeguards and governance, and payments system have been invaluable in strengthening the Central Bank’s capacity.

He said the Seychelles Bankers’ Association has cooperated over the past year, helping the introduction of new monetary instruments.

“Despite the challenges ahead, I hope banks will continue to respond positively to the evolving market conditions so they can contribute effectively towards economic growth,” added Mr Laporte.

He thanked current and former Central Bank board members for supporting policy decisions, and also paid tribute to the bank’s staff.

“I have watched with great pride and admiration the way these men and women have dedicated their time and effort to our institution and to the cause of our country – day in, day out – over the past year,” he said.

“The intensity of the monetary reforms that we have had to implement has at times put significant strain on the lives of some of our staff, but in the face of it all we have stood firm as a unified family.”

During the forum, whose theme was Seychelles’ economic reform: one year on – what the future holds, Mr Afif said when he joined the Ministry of Finance in 2007 it was very difficult to find money to run government services, but now things are different.

Next to speak was Dr Ramadoss, who said whenever one went to a bank to ask for foreign exchange previously, one was met with the chorus of “napa”, but now forex is available in abundance.

“What more could the business community have asked for? As a businessman, I can tell you we are all very happy that there is enough foreign exchange,” he said.