exploit the synergies across various dimensions. 8. the conceptual underpinnings of financial stability, as it evolved post - gfc, entailed preserving and nurturing a well - functioning financial architecture which includes not just the banks but also other financial institutions along with efficient and secure payment and settlement systems. recent experience across countries during the pandemic suggests that even though banks, non - banks, financial markets and payment systems remain at the core of financial stability issues, there is still a need to look much closer at the system in its entirety. in this sense, the overall objective of financial stability policies should be closely intertwined with the health of the real economy. more precisely, given that the financial system works as a pivot between various sectors of the economy and given the strong linkages across sectors, financial stability needs to be seen in a broader perspective and must include not just the stability of the financial system and monetary stability ( price stability ), but also fiscal sustainability and external sector viability. all these operate in a feedback loop ; and disturbances in any of the segments do get propagated to other segments with the potential of disrupting systemic stability. 9. when we look at financial stability from such a perspective, preserving and nurturing the same becomes a public good, which should facilitate creation and nurturing of congenial underlying conditions for sustained growth and development. in difficult circumstances, such as the current one, it is important that all stakeholders recognise and partake in their shared responsibility for the collective benefit of the society at large. history is replete with examples of such endeavours in response to difficult situations and that, in essence, has been the story of human progress and modern economies. ii. preserving financial stability during covid - 19 10. the idea of financial stability in this broader sense moulded the reserve bank ’ s approach during the pandemic, which was a unique crisis, more challenging than the global financial crisis of 2008, impacting both the real and financial sector in great severity. with conventional, unconventional and new tools, the reserve bank responded through a series of measures to alleviate stress in various segments of the economy and the financial sector, including the stress encountered by market players and financial entities. broadly speaking, our approach to the covid situation included the following measures : ( a ) measures to mitigate the immediate impact of the pandemic : loan moratoriums together with asset classification standstill ; easing of working capital financing and defer

are hungry, and they have to eat and then come back to work. please drop them off first. ” old timers of rbi, almost all of them now retired, recall several occasions when jrd showed unaffected empathy. there is a similar fount of stories about jrd ’ s visionary leadership in tough times, and his astute understanding of what could drive the future, and how to always keep ahead of the curve. he was a good listener, but he always asked penetrating and insightful questions, questioning even the questions that others asked. today we pay tribute to that amazing individual, a bharat ratna, and his rare capability to question the questions. very often, asking the right question is even more important even than having the right answer. jrd ’ s insights underpin my speech today : i will question the questions that people are asking about the financial crisis, its impact and our approach to recovery. the global crisis we are going through what is by all accounts the deepest economic crisis of our time. economic historians are comparing this crisis to the great depression of the 1930s. both were global in scope, both were centred in the united states, and importantly both were preceded by mounting global imbalances, loose monetary policy and high levels of leverage. still, there are important differences between the great recession of today and the great depression and all the crises in between. a number of regions of the world – latin america and asia – and a number of individual countries such as argentina, mexico, russia, turkey – had all gone through crises, and these crises were essentially traditional retail banking and currency crises. during these crises richer countries buffered the fall bailing out the troubled regions. in contrast, the current crisis hit at the very heart of global finance with no buffer to fall back on. some studies suggest that the net worth impact of this crisis, when measured by variables such as declines in output, trade volumes and stock markets, has arguably been more severe than that of the great depression. every country in every part of the world has been affected by the crisis, although through different channels and to different degrees. the united states and europe, which had become dependent on the financial sector as their engine of growth, were at the very epicentre of the crisis. export growth led asia, which managed its external sector cautiously after the asian crisis of a decade ago, saw its growth plummet through a sharp decline in the demand for exports. over the years, eastern europe had become