duvvuri subbarao : looking back and looking ahead welcome remarks by dr duvvuri subbarao, governor of the reserve bank of india, at the grand finale of the platinum jubilee celebrations of the rbi, held at the national centre for performing arts, mumbai, 1 april 2010. * * * 1. we are gathered here to mark the grand finale of the platinum jubilee celebrations of the reserve bank of india. it is my pleasure and privilege to welcome : hon ’ ble prime minister dr. manmohan singh hon ’ ble finance minister shri pranab mukherjee his excellency, governor of maharashtra, shri k. sankaranarayanan ; and hon ’ ble chief minister of maharashtra, shri ashok chavan 2. i also want to acknowledge the presence here on this happy occasion of smt. gursharan kaur, who has accompanied the prime minister, and the reserve bank ’ s former governors and deputy governors and their graceful spouses. 3. and of course, a big and hearty welcome to all our guests – our colleagues in the financial sector, our friends and well wishers, and our former and current staff, all gathered here today to celebrate with us. reserve bank @ 75 4. as an institution, central banks go back several centuries. the first central bank, the riksbank in sweden, was established in 1668, nearly 350 years ago, at a time when much of india was still under the great mughals. the bank of england came shortly thereafter in 1694. by the turn of the century in 1900, there were only 18 central banks. today, there are around 180 central banks, a tenfold increase in the last one hundred years. 5. the intellectual justification for a central bank in india was proposed by big weights such as james wilson, the first editor of the economist, in 1860, and by john maynard keynes in 1913. however, the idea did not turn into reality until many years later. the reserve bank was born as a private shareholders bank in 1935 in the city of joy, what was then calcutta, it moved in 1937 to bombay, the erstwhile name for this great city of mumbai, and was nationalized in 1949. the journey over the last seventy - five years has been eventful for the reserve bank, shaping not only its intellectual evolution, but also securing its preeminent position in the economic policy space of the country. 6. the reserve bank ’ s

of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. but i refuse to be blown off my feet by any ”. [ unquote ] the mahatma ’ s exhortation is even more true today than when he said it. 19. we need to learn from the best in the world, but adapt our learning to the demands and culture of a maturing and emerging economy. we need to be constantly pushing the envelope, be at the frontiers of domain knowledge, oftentimes reinvent it, but all the time remain sensitive to the core concerns of an emerging market economy, one which is still home to hundreds of millions of poor people. 20. that takes me to the third big challenge for the reserve bank – to widen and deepen financial inclusion. we all know from personal experience that economic opportunity is strongly inter - twined with financial access. such access is especially powerful for the poor as it provides them opportunities to build savings, make investments, avail credit, and above all, insure themselves against income shocks. at the aggregate level, financial inclusion provides an avenue for bringing the huge savings of the poor into the formal financial intermediation system, and for channelling them into much needed investment. one of the big take - aways from our outreach programme is that financial inclusion is not just a public good ; it is also a merit good. it empowers poor people in diverse ways. if there is to be “ inclusive growth ”, financial inclusion is the next big idea, as it will at once promote both growth and equity. 21. the final challenge for the reserve bank is to become a more transparent and sensitive institution. we are a public institution, and have an obligation to deliver quality service at the cutting edge level. we need to listen to people, be sensitive to their concerns, and redress their grievances. we also need to communicate effectively, and credibly and explain the logic of our decisions and actions at both technical and non - technical levels. being able to communicate clearly is non - trivial in many ways. “ centralbankspeak ”, the language that central bankers speak, can get counterproductive, if not used wisely. we all know of alan greenspan, the iconic chairman of the fed. he had to propose to his future wife seven times before she finally understood that he was actually proposing to her! the idea of india 22. a final thought before i close. a powerful lesson from the