a payments strategy for the 21st century remarks made by andrew hauser, executive director, banking, payments and financial resilience payment strategy forum “ launch of the final strategy ”, london 29 november 2016 all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / publications / pages / speeches / default. aspx thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you today at the launch of the psf ’ s payments strategy st for the 21 century. i want to start by emphasising that this is not the bank of england ’ s strategy – or the uk authorities ’ as a whole. and that in fact is its great merit : because it has been drawn up by a genuine partnership of those who actually provide and use retail payments services, with the interests of those users uppermost in their minds. but that doesn ’ t mean the bank has been ‘ hands off ’, or lukewarm over the direction of travel. quite the reverse. we have a deep interest in, and responsibility for, maintaining the stability of sterling payments. first, through our statutory responsibility for the supervision of the major payments schemes. second, by ensuring that all material payments either settle in, or are backed by, central bank money – the safest form of settlement asset. and, third, through our role as member of some schemes as a bank in our own right. it is sometimes said that a focus on stability impedes innovation. but there is no reason why that has to be true. well - crafted innovation can reduce market concentration, yield new risk - mitigating technologies, and increase the scope for electronic settlement in central bank money : all of which enhances, not reduces, financial stability. so we are open, not closed, to such advances. at the same time, we make no apologies for having a relentless focus on stability and resilience, and have previously set out the criteria against which we assess change in the payments landscape. indeed, households and companies expect nothing less. surveys regularly show safety to be at the very top of people ’ s expectations from payments. no amount of real - time, api - enabled, mobile front ends can make up for the prospect – however remote – that one ’ s money might be lost or mislaid ; or that a failure in one part of the payments network might bring down other parts of the banking system. judged against those yardsticks, the uk ’ s payment systems have actually performed very well in recent years

rakesh mohan : human development and state finances speech by mr rakesh mohan, deputy governor of the reserve bank of india, at the inaugural session of the 3rd programme on “ human development and state finances ”, mumbai, 7 november 2005. * * * introduction it is a pleasure to be amidst officials of the state governments who are instrumental in implementing government policies that aim to improve economic and social welfare. in india, bulk of the responsibilities pertaining to expenditure in social services including education and health are placed in the domain of the state governments. thus, the nature of state finances has important implications for improving human development in india. in this context, the theme of today ’ s discussion ‘ human development and state finances ’ is very topical as well as relevant. the reserve bank of india ( rbi ) bears a special relationship with the state governments in its multiple role as the banker, debt manager and fiscal adviser. the interactions between the rbi and the state governments have been stronger through the interface provided by the bi - annual finance secretaries ’ conference organised by the reserve bank since 1997. this conference has provided a common platform to discuss all aspects concerned with the fiscal affairs of the states and facilitated the evolution of a consensual approach on various key issues through active participation of state government officials. some of the outcomes include setting up of consolidated sinking funds ( csf ) for debt servicing, constitution of guarantee redemption funds ( grf ) to meet guarantee obligations, setting of ways & means advance ( wma ) limits for states, fixing limits for guarantees, and most recently, enactment of the fiscal responsibility legislation ( frl ). in this forum, in two earlier occasions, my colleague deputy governor shyamala gopinath had focused on the broad contours of human development and state finances while deputy governor shri v. leeladhar had dwelt on certain critical aspects of human development in the indian context. today i will first discuss the importance of economic growth for human development, poverty eradication and overall social welfare ; second, i will briefly give an overview of the performance on the human development at both the national level and across the states ; third, i will review the stylized facts relating to finances of the state governments as they relate to their impact on expenditure in the social sector ; fourth, i will mention some of the new initiatives taken by the government both at the centre and states ’ level for accelerating human development in india ; and finally, i will touch upon some further policy options. economic growth and human