as a revenue source. this is a sound policy development which encourages private sector activity. going forward, the challenge for african central banks will be to maintain this recently acquired track record. 3. payment systems next let ’ s look at the payment system. the development of the payment system determines how easy it is for firms and consumers to access and transfer money. can businesses pay their suppliers by writing a cheque or making an electronic transfer? or do they have to undergo the cumbersome and insecure process of sending cash physically? can households pay for consumer goods with debit cards, cheques or credit cards, or do they have to carry significant amounts of cash with them? can workers in urban areas transfer money to their rural families by simply sending an sms, or do they have to carry it with them on a dangerous bus ride? particularly in africa, where distances are vast and security is often a concern, the availability of non - cash payment instruments can increase the returns to economic activity for businesses and households. figure 3 shows that today, most economies in africa are still strongly cash based. both in sub - saharan and northern africa, more than one - third of funds available for immediate payments are in cash form. the notable exception is south africa where the level of non - cash money is above 80 %, and thus similar to that of switzerland. developments over the past 15 years show a promising picture for other countries on the continent as well. since 1995, the share of non - cash money has increased from 50 to 60 percent in sub - saharan africa, and 55 to 65 percent in north africa. this mirrors the increased availability of electronic payment instruments available to businesses, but also to households. figure 3 : share of non - cash money in africa ( in % ) 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 south africa northern africa ( median ) sub - saharan w / o sa ( median ) how can central banks foster the further development of safe and efficient payment instruments in africa? first and foremost, central banks must take a leading role in the development, operation and oversight of necessary infrastructure, such as interbank and retail payment systems. in doing so, it would seem natural to take advantage of international knowledge and expertise. as financial sector regulators, central banks can further create a market environment which encourages the entry of new service providers, as well as the development of innovative payment instruments, such as sms - banking and mobile - banking. as an oversight authority,

aspx? prid = 1693907 support the businesses and individuals during the turbulence. the rbi's measures to provide liquidity support to the economy helped ease the funding constraints faced by financial markets and enabled them to continue their operations and meet their financial obligations, thereby supporting economic activity. the government ’ s push for providing relief to weaker sections and hardest hit sectors of the economy ensured that their immediate concerns were addressed. the following year, i. e., in fy22, the indian economy started to recover despite the omicron wave of january 2022. consequently, output in fy22 went past its pre - pandemic level in fy20 7, with the indian economy staging an impressive recovery. just as india and the world were expecting to recover from the pandemic, the geopolitical upheavals in europe exacerbated existing pandemic related stress disrupting the commodities markets in particular. the turmoil led to increased prices and volatility in fuel, food grains, fertilizers, natural gas and metal prices, leading to a worldwide surge in inflation. the impact on commodities market can be gauged from the fact that the year - on - year growth in the prices as of march 2022, was 400 % for natural gas, 250 % for coal, 76 % for crude, 30 % for food and approximately 120 % for fertilizers 8. these increased prices led to multi - decade high inflation in many advanced economies. the inflation reached 10 % in euro area, germany, and uk 9. in india also, inflation reached 7. 8 % in april 2022, before easing to 5. 7 % in december 2022 10. central banks across economies led by us fed reserve responded with synchronised policy rate hikes to curb high inflation. since may 2022, us has hiked policy rates by 450 bps, while uk and the eu have increased rates by 300 bps. the conflict in europe necessitated a revision in expectations for economic growth and inflation in fy23. despite the downward revision, the growth estimate for fy23 for india is higher than for almost all major economies. imf estimates india to be one of the top two fast - growing significant economies in 2022. despite protracted global headwinds and tighter monetary conditions, india is still expected to display a healthy data from ministry of statistics and programme implementation, available at https : / / www. mosp