fairly. importantly, the rbi has had a decisive influence in shaping and implementing every major economic policy in the monetary and financial sectors. the developmental role of the rbi has expanded too. among our major endeavours today are financial inclusion and the strengthening of the credit delivery mechanisms for agriculture, and small and microenterprises, specially in the rural areas. with india emerging as a key player in the global growth story, rbi ’ s role and responsibilities too have increasingly acquired an international dimension. today rbi is an active participant in several important international institutions that seek to promote more effective regulatory structures and financial and systemic stability. we have for sometime now been shareholders of the bank for international settlements ( bis ) and member of the committee on global financial system, the markets committee, and the international liaison group under the aegis of the basel committee on banking supervision ( bcbs ), and are now becoming active members of the financial stability forum and the bcbs. the large and diverse responsibilities of the bank demand vastly different resources in terms of infrastructure and human competencies. in fact, as our mandate has evolved and grown, our resources and the organization of these resources too have undergone significant changes. the bank recognizes that our employees are our main assets and that the efficacy of an institution is fundamentally dependent not just on the sum total of its individual human capital, but on how effectively it is able to draw out the best from its talent pool. it has been our constant endeavour to create a work environment where we can deliver our services efficiently, discharge our functions competently and enjoy a wholesome work - life balance. as i had mentioned to you in my new year message, today the economy is facing an extraordinary challenge. the global recession, a fall - out of the unprecedented financial crisis, is the most serious economic problem that the world has faced in the post - war era. contrary to earlier hopes, it is now clear that the downturn will be deeper and the recovery longer than we had earlier anticipated. the reserve bank has played, and will continue to play, a leading role in managing the crisis and minimizing the pain of adjustment. this affords the rbi both a challenge and an opportunity. a challenge because a lot is expected of us ; and an opportunity because it gives us a chance to demonstrate that we can rise to the occasion, think out of the box, lead from the front and act swiftly and effectively. in the course of the next one month, we will be working out a detailed plan for

of the pandemic and its impact on various economies. the world urgently needed solutions to a problem it had never seen before. 5. public authorities, healthcare personnel, scientists and above all, the people eagerly looked for hard data from various sources such as hospitals, municipal authorities, etc. on the spread of the pandemic. very soon, data from these sources got updated on a nearreal time basis in an accessible manner. statisticians collaborated with healthcare authorities to monitor the age - specific, spatial and temporal dimensions of the pandemic. this enabled the authorities to better respond to the healthcare requirements of those affected. 6. as statisticians provided new techniques and insights for modelling without precedence, the importance of the discipline was reaffirmed. official statistics became a cornerstone of the responses to the short - and long - term consequences of the pandemic. the pressing need for hard data during the crisis accelerated innovation and sharing of experiences, especially in production, dissemination and use of statistics, shift towards the use of new data sources, adoption of new statistical methods and deployment of experimental statistics and dashboards. 2 7. during this period of unprecedented uncertainty, closer monitoring of economic activity demanded immediate attention as the massive shock reverberated across the global economy. the compilation of aggregates from electronic systems were least affected ; but some channels used in compiling macroeconomic and micro - level data were hampered by social distancing norms and lockdowns. across the world, the authorities responsible for collection and dissemination of real sector statistics started exploring collection of data through alternate modes. for example, in many socioeconomic and business surveys, traditional face - to - face interviews were replaced by telephonic interviews and on - line surveys. according to a survey conducted by the united nations statistics division ( unsd ) and the world bank, over 95 per cent of national statistical offices ( nsos ) had partially or fully stopped face - to - face data collection in may 2020 3. this has, of course, been gradually restored as economies opened up. india was not immune to this impact. the ministry of statistics and programme implementation was compelled to publish imputed figures for consumer price index ( cpi ) for two consecutive months during the first wave of the baldacci, emanuele et al. ‘ innovation during the covid - 19 crisis : why it was more critical for official statistics than ever ’. statistical journal of the iaos, 1 jan. 2022 : 1 – 14. united