factors weighed on activity at the nation ’ s factories, whose output declined over the first half of 2019 and has been little changed, on net, since then. the february monetary policy report discusses the recent weakness in manufacturing. some of the uncertainties around trade have diminished recently, but risks to the outlook remain. in particular, we are closely monitoring the emergence of the coronavirus, which could lead to disruptions in china that spill over to the rest of the global economy. inflation ran below the fomc ’ s symmetric 2 percent objective throughout 2019. over the 12 months through december, overall inflation based on the price index for personal consumption expenditures was 1. 6 percent. core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was also 1. 6 percent. over the next few months, we expect inflation to move closer to 2 percent, as unusually low readings from early 2019 drop out of the 12 - month calculation. the nation faces important longer - run challenges. labor force participation by individuals in their 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches prime working years is at its highest rate in more than a decade. however, it remains lower than in most other advanced economies, and there are troubling labor market disparities across racial and ethnic groups and across regions of the country. in addition, although it is encouraging that productivity growth, the main engine for raising wages and living standards over the longer term, has moved up recently, productivity gains have been subpar throughout this economic expansion. finding ways to boost labor force participation and productivity growth would benefit americans and should remain a national priority. monetary policy i will now turn to monetary policy. over the second half of 2019, the fomc shifted to a more accommodative stance of monetary policy to cushion the economy from weaker global growth and trade developments and to promote a faster return of inflation to our symmetric 2 percent objective. we lowered the federal funds target range at our july, september, and october meetings, bringing the current target range to 1 - 1 / 2 to 1 - 3 / 4 percent. at our subsequent meetings, with some uncertainties surrounding trade having diminished and amid some signs that global growth may be stabilizing, the committee left the policy rate unchanged. the fomc believes that the current stance of monetary policy will support continued economic growth, a strong labor market, and inflation returning to the committee ’ s symmetric 2 percent objective. as long as incoming information about the economy remains broadly consistent with this outlook

crucial and yet, the most challenging of the three aspects of vigilance that i mentioned earlier. it is crucial because it has the potential to prevent lapses from occurring by stemming the rot at the initial stages itself. however, it is challenging because it needs to be a continuous exercise across all levels of the organization and demands the focussed attention of the management. this involves keeping close watch on the activity profile and the life style of the employees. the employees, who maintain a flashy life style without accounted for means to support such life style, who rarely take leave, who do not share the finer points of work with fellow colleagues, who take extra interest in the work assigned to others, who are ever ready to help vendors dealing with the institution, who are under debt etc., need to be closely watched from a vigilance angle. 11. this should be followed by strengthening participative vigilance function which encompasses reviewing the existing systems and control, identifying lacunae and putting in place sufficient red flags so that the scope for misconduct is minimised and transgressions are detected swiftly. the systems of the institution which allow the employees to take independent decisions without subjecting them to “ four eye principle ”, allowing use of excessive powers without scrutiny, giving unrestrained financial powers to individual employees, allowing employees to change the terms and conditions of any contract without involving the original sanctioning authorities etc. need to be reviewed and proper checks and balances need to be put in place to avoid misuse of powers by individual employee for their personal benefit. when the precautions become part of the culture of the organisation, the same also act to improve the surveillance and detection vigilance function in any organisation. 12. to strengthen the preventive vigilance function in any institution, involvement of all stakeholders irrespective of their standing in the institution can play an important part. for example, if any branch manager accommodates any constituent after the office hours for some pecuniary benefit for himself or his close friends, the best source to collate information about the activities of such branch manager may be subordinate staff who may be present in the office during this period. similarly any information about the nefarious activities of officials dealing with outside vendors can be collected through market intelligence. 13. holding periodical workshops and training programmes for the dealing staff on vigilance aspects to sensitise them about the need to be cautious while dealing with outsiders and making them aware about the