: it sets out in clear and simple terms what the partnership is seeking to achieve and it assesses progress against measurable objectives. it has the credibility that comes from being grounded in serious analysis of the issues confronting merseyside. and it has benefited from the advice of an independent panel of distinguished experts. there is no doubt that the performance of monetary policy has benefited greatly from setting clear objectives and measuring progress in a transparent and open way. the uk first adopted specific targets for inflation over a decade ago, and at the same time the bank launched a new quarterly inflation report to share its thinking about the economic prospect. in 1997, that approach was developed, and its credibility significantly enhanced, when gordon brown gave responsibility for setting interest rates to an independent monetary policy committee, consisting of outside experts as well as bank of england officials. by any past standards, the period since 1992 has seen a quite remarkable degree of stability, with low and stable inflation and a record period of sustained positive output growth and steadily improving employment. better monetary policy is not the whole story ; but it can share some of the credit for that success. how does monetary stability like this benefit an area like merseyside? the bank of england ’ s job is to control inflationary pressure in the country as a whole. what we do is set interest rates to keep the total demand in the economy in line with the economy ’ s productive capacity. we don ’ t – and can ’ t – favour any section of the economy, or the country. merseyside is a region facing deep seated economic and social challenges, stemming from the decline in its traditional industries. in recent decades, many well paid jobs have gone for ever, and in the new world, earning good money has required a very different set of skills. that kind of change wasn ’ t just a challenge to individuals and their families ; it threatened the viability of whole communities. low inflation is not in itself a solution to problems like this. but it is a pre condition for solving them. merseyside had bad luck to be confronted with more economic change in the second half of the twentieth century than most people could cope with at the time. liverpool never lost its sense of humour, though there were times when it came close to losing its way. sadly, you can ’ t laugh your way out of economic decline. high inflation and economic instability fostered the wrong climate for taking the long term decisions that were needed to give merseyside a new future. the

of ubiquity in the sense access to payment systems should be simple, easy, convenient, cost effective for the “ aam admi ”. third indian payment systems need to continuously innovate products, channels and business models. technology should facilitate the convergence of payment products. fourth recent surveys worldwide indicate mobile and nfc are the future payment trends. given the huge potential for both mobile and nfc as the future payment products, we should see the adoption and integration of these into our payment systems. fifth, our payment systems should be able to provide a low cost solution to bring government payments, e - commerce, etc, into its fold. sixth, safety and security of payment systems instil public confidence. our payment systems should meet the emerging challenge of frauds and be the trend setter for security i once again felicitate the csb ltd on this momentous day. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches