shaktikanta das : india ’ s relations with the international monetary fund remarks by mr shaktikanta das, governor of the reserve bank of india, at the release of shri v. srinivas ’ s book on " india ’ s relations with the international monetary fund : 25 years in perspective 1991 - 2016 ", new delhi, 26 july 2019. * * * i am delighted to be part of this event for the launch of shri v. srinivas ’ s book on “ india ’ s relations with the international monetary fund ”. a respected civil servant of the 1989 batch, he has drawn extensively on his hands - on stint as advisor to the executive director for india at the imf during 2003 – 06, combining it with his scholarship and experience in policy making. the book and the function today will promote readership on an important subject and spur more thoughts and analysis. as you are aware, rbi as an institution is closely involved with the functioning of the imf both to project our macro economic interests as well as from the angle of governance of the imf. 2. against the backdrop of previous fund programs with india in 1966 and 1981, the book trains its focus on perhaps the most eventful period of india ’ s engagement with the fund, beginning with the balance of payments crisis of 1991 and covering the period up to 2016 that brings to the fore the dramatic transition in india ’ s status with the imf from a debtor to a creditor. in the same period, the indian economy also witnessed a transformation from an inward - looking economy driven by import substitution to an increasingly open and emerging global power in a dynamic world order. this period also witnessed the transformation of the fund from a stigmatised lender of last resort focused exclusively on exchange rate surveillance towards a more central role in the international monetary system after the global financial crisis. over this period, the fund has not only focussed on macroeconomic policies but embraced a wider gamut of issues that covered women ’ s empowerment, poverty alleviation, sustainable development, fintech and climate change. as dr y. v. reddy has stated in his foreword to the book : “ the book fills a serious gap in the existing literature on the subject …. ”. i congratulate srinivas for his scholarly contribution in writing this book. 3. i thought i would take this opportunity to share some of my own thoughts on the fund and its role in the international monetary system, drawing on my experiences

more, broader, market participants means a wider range of potential employment opportunities for those keen to join the market. workforce diversity differs across sectors ( figure 4 ) and across firms within sectors. but it also means that service providers need to get better at relationship management, investing more in understanding increasingly diverse customer needs. it is striking, for example, that portfolio managers in asia are twice as likely to be female ( figure 5 ) ; and the gender mix of retail fx trading in europe – a rapidly growing market segment – is approaching 50 / 50 ( figure 6 ). it would be too simplistic to say that service providers need to be as diverse as their customer base. 14 but recruiting from a broader diversity pool and hiring people with different life experiences helps firms understand the mindset of their clients better, improving customer engagement and ultimately increasing returns. https : / / newfinancial. org / wp - content / uploads / 2016 / 06 / women _ in _ uk _ finserv _ 2016 _ final. pdf see for instance, p. 11 of the 2016 cfa report on gender diversity in investment management at : https : / / www. cfainstitute. org / en / research / survey - reports / gender - diversity - report all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / publications / pages / speeches / default. aspx figure 5 : female representation in portfolio management by region15 figure 6 : gender breakdown of retail fx traders16 my final point is on culture. public authorities and firms right across the financial spectrum have put an enormous amount of effort into culture change in recent years. painful fines and enforcement actions have led to intense scrutiny of internal conduct. over 330 firms have signed the uk women in finance charter, committing themselves to supporting the progression of women into senior roles, setting and publishing progress against gender diversity targets, linking senior executive pay to those targets, and appointing a named senior executive to be accountable for gender diversity. 17 and the fx global code that i mentioned earlier has introduced clearly defined standards demonstrating which behaviours are no longer acceptable, rebuilding trust in the market and removing obstacles to open, non - biased recruitment. these higher ethical standards will make the sector more accessible and inclusive, improving the number of opportunities, but also strengthening the appeal of working in the fx market. https : / / www. oliverwyman. com / our - expertise / insights / 2016 / jun / women - in - financial - services