EAC committees to meet in Tanzania over monetary union

[Invisible]

APA-Kampala (Uganda) A joint meeting of the East African Community (EAC) Monetary Affairs Committee (MAC), Fiscal Affairs Committee (FAC) and Capital Markets, Insurance and Pensions Committee (CMIPC) to consider the final report on the establishment of a Monetary Union among the EAC partner states is scheduled to take place from 26 February to 2 March 2010 at the Snowcrest Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania.

According to the EAC communications officer Richard Owora on Wednesday, the joint meeting will involve technical officials’ sessions from 26-28 February ; the session for permanent secretaries of ministries of finance, central bank governors, heads of capital markets/insurance/pension institutions, commissioners’ general of revenue authorities on 1 March ; while the ministers of finance session will be on 2 March 2010. Officials from the ministries of EAC affairs in the partner states are also scheduled to attend the meeting.

The joint meeting will also consider the proposed road map to the establishment of the East African Monetary Union (EAMU) ; a proposal to establish a High Level Task Force (HLTF) for the negotiations of the EAMU Protocol ; and a proposal to establish an EAC Sectoral Council of Ministers responsible for finance.

At their Summit in 2007, the heads of state of the EAC partner states decided to fast track the achievement of monetary union by 2012. Following the recommendations from the central bank governors, the Council directed the Secretariat to source for a consultant to undertake a comprehensive study on the EAC monetary union.

After an internationally competitive bidding process, the consultancy was awarded to the European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB carried out the study and submitted the report to the Secretariat late last year. The study addresses four main issues namely ; prerequisites for EAMU ; the establishment of the legal and institutional framework necessary for the implementation of EAMU ; preparatory work for the transition to EAMU, including measures to replace the national currencies with the future single currency ; and the operational regulatory framework for EAMU.

A validation workshop of the Draft Final Report of the proposed East African Monetary Union (EAMU) was held in January 2010 in Kampala and it recommended that the EAC Secretariat convene a joint session for the Monetary Affairs Committee (MAC), Fiscal Affairs Committee (FAC) and the Capital Markets, Insurance and Pension Committee (CMIPC) to discuss the next steps in the establishment of the proposed East African Monetary Union.

Following the establishment of the EAC Customs Union in 2005, and the completion of the negotiations of the establishment of the East African Common Market which is to come into effect on 1 July 2010, the next major stage in the East African integration process is the monetary union.

Source: APA - Feb 24, 2010

 

[PatPending]

Kuna maswali makubwa na muhimu sana ya kuulizwa na kupatiwa majibu ya maana hapa. Raha ya Umoja wa kifedha ni kwamba wakati wa raha mambo huwa raha kweli maana kwa wale wanachama dhaifu "itifaki" fulan huwa inafuatwa kutulinda na pia mabadiliko ya ghafla ghafla ya mfumuko wa bei huwa yanakuwa yanadhibitiwa kwa kiasi kikubwa.

Taabu inakuja pale mambo yanapokwenda mrama maana kazi kubwa za benki kuu za nchi wanachama kama vile sera na nyenzo nyingi za kupambana na misukosuko au kurekebisha madeni zinakuwa zimemezwa na Umoja huo hivyo kuziwia nchi wanachama ugumu katika kutafuta ufumbuzi wa matatizo yao wenyewe ambayo ni bespoke na context specific.

Angalia vumbi la matatizo Ugiriki, Uhispania, Ureno, Italia na fukuto la Ireland linalokuja