india is among the few countries in the world to have introduced a carbon tax. the clean energy cess imposed on coal mined in india or imported into india is collected into the “ national clean energy fund ” set up for funding research and innovative projects in clean energy technologies. 15. the government of india has also kept a plan outlay of rs. 10, 192. 83 crore in the annual budget plan for the year 2016 – 17 towards utilizing new and renewable energy resources of energy for supplementing energy requirements of the country in an eco - friendly and sustainable manner. government is proposing to set up new missions on wind energy, health, waste to energy, coastal areas and redesigning the national water mission & national mission on sustainable agriculture. these steps indicate the government of india ’ s commitment towards energy efficiency and will help to meet our national mission to reduce emission intensity by about 30 % – 35 % between 2005 and 2030. india is looking forward to enhance its renewable energy capacity in line with our vision of providing 24×7 electricity to all households. accordingly, the ministry of new and renewable energy ( mnre ) is looking forward to install 1, 00, 000 mw of renewable capacity in the country in the next five years. in order to fulfil the ambitious renewable energy targets, the country would require huge investments. role of financial entities in sustainable development 16. since no development is possible without a sound financial system supporting it, the spotlight is now on aligning the financial system with sustainable development. we, in the rbi, have been conscious of the role of banks in providing finance for sustainable development. as early as in december 2007, banks in india were sensitized to the various international initiatives including the equator principles and were asked to keep abreast of the developments in the field of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility and dovetail / modify their lending strategies / plans in the light of such developments. 17. india ’ s focus on harnessing the financial system to provide to socially important segments actually dates back to even pre - nationalisation days and got great impetus after bank nationalisation. a core of the financial policy in india is the priority sector lending requirement for banks to allocate 40 % of lending to key socially important sectors such as agriculture and small and medium - sized enterprises. in 2015, the reserve bank of india ( rbi ) included lending to social infrastructure and small renewable energy projects within the bis central bankers ’ speeches targets, thereby, giving a further fillip to green financing

p nandalal weerasinghe : monetary and financial sector policies for 2024 and beyond annual policy statement by dr p nandalal weerasinghe, governor of the central bank of sri lanka, colombo, 10 january 2024. * * * 1. economic performance in 2023 the sri lankan economy started showing signs of gradual recovery during the latter part of 2023. positive economic growth was recorded by the sri lankan economy in the third quarter of 2023, following consecutive contractions since the first quarter of 2022. leading economic indicators signal the continuation of the strong pace of activity during the last quarter of 2023. inflation, which accelerated to unprecedented levels in 2022, was brought down to single - digit levels within a period of one year. despite the historically high level of inflation in september 2022, the price escalation was quickly reined in and entered an impressive disinflation path thereafter, eventually bringing inflation down to the targeted levels within a period of one year. sri lanka's swift disinflationary process was supported by an array of policy measures implemented by both the central bank and the government. meanwhile, core inflation, which reflects the underlying demand pressures in the economy, also recorded steady disinflation during 2023. inflation expectations have been anchored around the targeted levels. extensive policy measures aimed at restoring confidence and stability in the economy, though painful in the near term, have helped stabilise inflation expectations, which remained largely deanchored during 2022. the credible deceleration of inflation and well - anchored inflation expectations within the targeted range allowed the central bank to begin its monetary policy easing cycle in mid 2023. the central bank commenced the relaxing of its monetary policy stance in june 2023 in view of the deceleration of inflation, benign inflation expectations, stable inflation outlook, and improvements observed in the external sector. as a result of the monetary policy easing measures and administrative measures, market interest rates declined significantly, particularly deposit interest rates. market lending interest rates also declined, albeit at a slower pace, partly contributed by the rigidity in the yields on government securities amidst the high risk premia. 1 / 1 bis - central bankers'speeches