swaminathan j : building resilient brand india amidst global uncertainty spspeech by mr swaminathan j, deputy governor of the reserve bank of india, at the 10th state bank of india banking and economic conclave, mumbai, 28 december 2023. * * * chairman, state bank of india shri dinesh khara, distinguished guests and my fellow colleagues from the banking fraternity, ladies, and gentlemen. a very warm good morning to all of you. i am delighted to be here at the 10th edition of the sbi banking & economics conclave, surrounded by industry leaders from banking and financial sectors, leading economists, policy makers, and other stakeholders. this marquee event provides a platform for discussing pertinent issues, sharing insights, and exploring potential solutions for the industry. in a lighter vein, after being a part of its host institution in its past nine editions, i now have the honour of being invited to speak at this prestigious event! i am extremely grateful to chairman shri khara for extending this invitation. as mentioned by governor, rbi, shri shaktikanta das in the recent post monetary policy press conference, the years 2020 to 2023 will perhaps go down in history as a period of'great volatility'1. the global economy today is witnessing a renewed phase of turbulence with fresh headwinds from the banking sector turmoil in some advanced economies. a few bank failures and its contagion risk have brought financial stability and resilience issues to the fore again. therefore, the theme of this year's conclave'building resilient brand india amidst global uncertainty'is highly topical in the current economic scenario. the term'brand india ', refers to the overall image, perception, and reputation of india as a nation. it encompasses a wide range of elements, including the country's culture, heritage, economy, innovation, tourism, and more. today, i would like to focus on brand india and its resilience from a financial sector perspective. building a resilient brand india from a banking and economy perspective includes the aspects of financial stability, risk management and crisis preparedness, sound corporate governance as well as adaptive regulation complemented by robust supervision, financial inclusion and customer protection. today, as compared to the situation five years ago, the indian banking sector stands tall, reflecting its strength and viability. as of september 2023, the capital to risk weighted assets ratio of scheduled commercial banks stood impressively at 16

in urban infrastructure investment and improvement in urban governance and management. the successful financing of such an enhanced level of investment will depend crucially on the financial viability of such projects. given that the level of indian urbanisation is still less than 30 per cent, and that 60 per cent of the indian total population is still dependent on agriculture, the continuation of high economic growth will depend on the success of a higher rate of labour absorption by cities. this will need much higher growth in labour using manufacturing, higher levels of urban infrastructure investment, along with knowledge based forward looking city management. thus, the indian situation is quite different from that of china. if indian urbanisation does speed up as it surpasses the 30 per cent mark and as indian per capita income approaches us $ 1000, in normal circumstances we should expect acceleration in indian urban growth. this will need significant acceleration in urban infrastructure investment and hence in the mobilisation of financial resources for such investment. although so far india has not relied significantly on external savings for its investment needs, it is possible that the demand for urban infrastructure investment will necessitate greater usage of external savings during this phase of india's urban growth. the other large country in asia is indonesia, which is spread over a large number of islands. till the asian financial crisis in 1997, indonesia also exhibited economic policy characteristics similar to those of other east - asian countries in terms of openness and export orientation, although it had more of a mix in economic policy, which was also concerned with promotion of import substituting industries and conscious dispersal of economic activities beyond the natural concentration in java. nevertheless, the greater jakarta region, known as the jabotobek region, exhibited a high degree of urban concentration where a high proportion of indonesian economic activities got concentrated despite the large size and dispersed nature of the indonesian archipelago. given the somewhat lower level of indonesian per capita income and the very rapid growth of the jabotobek region, the extent and proliferation of slums has been high in the region. ( webster, 2004 ) furthermore, indonesia was perhaps the most highly affected of the asian countries from the 1997 east asian financial crisis. it has still to fully recover from that shock and is yet to regain earlier economic dynamism. thus the persistence of slums and the accompanying urban distress is likely to persist in indonesia longer than its other south east asian counterparts. the urban future of indonesia is more beset with uncertainties, reflecting the parallel economic uncertainties that it faces. how