is hoped, will address this concern to a large extent. this is also a challenge which i am sure that the idrbt will also take up in right earnest for the benefit of the financial sector as a whole. the growth in mobile communications and the exponential usage of mobile telephony by india ’ s masses is an aspect which in my view, banks have to look upon as an opportunity to harness to their benefit. the power of the chip in the mobile phone is enormous and its usage for secure banking transactions needs to be examined and provided for. i would also like to touch on another challenge which banks are slowly overcoming. the need for regular, sustained is audit is being highlighted by the reserve bank for some time now. while some initiatives have been taken by banks towards achieving this, much more needs to be done. the speed with which it implementation and upgradation is being done may outpace the frequency of is audit and it is in the best interests of banks that this vital activity is given due importance. it also facilitates a host of other functions which banks have been hitherto performing through manual operations. let me take up the case of verification of the genuineness of the customer - the know your customer or kyc factor. technology facilitates easier access to verification of information on a real time basis. since it tools provide a scientific and almost real time monitoring and analysis of funds movement, this would help a great deal in ensuring compliance to anti - money laundering requirements. many it based banking solutions have incorporated sophisticated algorithms and comprehensive permutations and combinations to provide alerts on a real time basis. such a facilitation may well be impossible using manual means. another vital aspect that has to be taken cognisance of is that technological deployment must always be consistent with the levels of expertise in each bank as well as the nature and sophistication of its customers. alternatively it is important to train all the stake holders to ensure a smooth technological transformation. many of you must have had occasion to read the book ‘ freakonomics ’ by steven levitt and stephen dubner. the narrative there on the lifetime episode of paul feldman on the sale of the american bread - bagels is an eye opener. he commenced sale of the bagels in an unsupervised manner which led to a situation where the buyers did not always pay for their offtakes. nevertheless the recovery rate was rather encouraging. he further studied the behaviour - versus - payment patterns and came out

this has been reflected in a decline, at the margin, in interest rates in australia, even though the reserve bank has not changed the cash rate for a year. australian governments have continued to borrow at or around the lowest rates since federation. similarly, funding costs for financial institutions have been declining. this, and an increase in competition to lend in an environment of still fairly moderate credit growth, has contributed to a reduction in the rates on housing and business loans. economic growth was, as recorded, clearly above trend in the march quarter. the quarterly result was, to a large extent, driven by a substantial increase in resource exports, as new mining capacity came on line and mining operations experienced fewer weather disruptions than usual. data for the june quarter suggest a “ payback ” of lower exports, and also a period of more subdued consumer demand. there are relatively few readings for the september quarter as yet, though at least some suggest that there may have been a reasonable start to bis central bankers ’ speeches the quarter. having printed lower for a few months, the rate of unemployment has recently been recorded at a higher level, though most leading indicators of the labour market seem to have improved a little this year. consumer prices rose by 3 per cent over the year to the june quarter, higher than the pace a year earlier. this partly reflects factors such as the increase in the tobacco excise but measures of underlying inflation also increased. a faster pace of increase in prices for tradable goods and services featured, a reflection of the depreciation of the exchange rate since april last year. the rate of inflation for “ non - tradables ” has actually declined over the past year, helped by growth of labour costs falling to its lowest rate for many years. there is some evidence that productivity performance may be starting to improve, though this is notoriously difficult to evaluate over periods less than several years. when we look ahead, a key feature of the outlook, as everyone knows, is that the capital expenditure phase of the “ mining boom ” is winding down, while the export phase is gearing up. the fall - off in investment spending by resources companies has a long way to go yet and will probably accelerate in the coming year. this impending further fall is captivating most of the commentators. meanwhile growth in non - mining activity has been increasing. a recovery in dwelling investment is well under way, with spending in this area rising by 8 per cent in the year to the march quarter. forward indicators