. notwithstanding this recent inflation upsurge, monetary policy continues to be conducted to condition and contain perception of inflation in the range of 4. 0 - 4. 5 per cent. this is in line with the medium - term objective of 3. 0 per cent inflation consistent with india ’ s broader integration into the global economy. recent global financial crisis has, however, shown that low levels of inflation and high levels of growth do not guarantee financial stability. accordingly, there is an increasing emphasis that financial stability should also be an explicit objective of central banks besides price stability and growth. in india, however, financial stability was recognised as another important objective of monetary policy much before the crisis. thus, monetary policy in india has evolved to have multiple objectives of price stability, growth and financial stability. these objectives are not inherently contradictory, but rather they are mutually reinforcing. this is so as price and financial stability are important for sustaining a high level of growth, which is the ultimate objective of public policy. monetary policy framework achieving the monetary policy objectives requires articulation of a consistent monetary policy framework. this becomes necessary as central banks strive to achieve these objectives only indirectly through instruments which are under their direct control. for instance, under the monetary targeting framework, central banks, through the instruments under their direct control such as cash reserve ratio ( crr ), tried to influence an intermediate target such as money supply which had a stable relationship with the final objectives of price and output. monetary policy framework, however, has been a continuously evolving process contingent upon the level of development of financial markets and institutions as also the degree of global integration. in india as in other countries, monetary policy framework has undergone significant transformation over time. india followed a monetary targeting framework with feedback during the mid - 1980s to 1997 - 98 under which broad money was used as an intermediate target for monetary policy. this framework was, however, rendered increasingly inadequate by the mid - 1990s due to several developments that took place with economic and financial sector reforms. first, on account of measures undertaken during the 1990s to develop the various segments of the financial market, there was discernible deepening of the financial sector ( chart 1 ). this mohanty et al. ( 2011 ), “ inflation threshold in india : an empirical investigation ”, rbi working paper series, 18 / 2011 ; pattanaik and nadhanael ( 2011 ), “ why persistent high inflation impedes growth? an empirical assessment of threshold level of inflation in india ”, rbi

one must use all these available options to check the forecast accuracy before zeroing in on any particular technique. further, the forecasting models will require timely updates to factor in the latest developments in the economy. 11. the experience of the last two years has made us mindful of the data gaps that remain, though ensuring standardisation of methodologies in the compilation of various national aggregates have stood us in good stead. our endeavour has been to follow global standards and best practices, some of which are still evolving. in parallel to these developments, more indices, sub - indices and other statistics have also come to the forefront as countries strive to achieve higher standard of living, and attempt to monitor their progress across multiple dimensions. various forms of human development indices, happiness indices and inequality indices have been proposed in the literature and are now compiled by various national and international agencies. 12. given its vastness and geographical diversity, india requires regional dimensions of national indicators. we should aim at enhanced granularity, regularity and better validation. in the reserve bank, we treat information as a ‘ public good ’. we envision to keep calibrating our information management systems to the needs and expectations of various stakeholders. as i have already stated, we should also tap alternate data sources, and consider ways and means of fitting them in the existing analytical frameworks. 13. the world has responded to the devastating impact of the covid - 19 pandemic through remarkable determination, strong human spirit and scientific efforts. this response is taking place in a period when we are also facing long term challenges of climate change, with its unusually complex dynamics. it poses new challenges to central banks, regulators and supervisors. the risk assessment methods and models for analysing climate - related risks are, at present, limited by lack of usable data. work is on for identifying and bridging these data gaps 5. the new phase 6 of g - 20 data gaps initiative ( dgi ) proposes climate change as a major focus area to address data gaps that have been identified as crucial for macroeconomic policy making and micro - financial stability. network for greening the financial system ( 2021 ). ‘ progress report on bridging data gaps ’. may. the previous two phases of g20 - dgi were focussed on data gaps for ( a ) monitoring risks in the financial sector ; ( b ) cross - border financial linkages ; ( c ) vulnerabilities to shocks, interconnections and