it stated, “ poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere ”. to eliminate or to address the issue of poverty, financial inclusion is a very important means. until and unless you have an inclusive society you cannot dream to address the challenge of poverty. likewise, if universal financial inclusion has to become a reality, efforts to spread financial literacy have to be an essential pre - requisite. so that is what we are talking about here. financial literacy to financial inclusion to poverty elimination, this is something very very important for the global stability. 4. when i looked at the theme of this conference and as i pondered over what to speak, i actually started wondering about the nature of financial illiterates in the system. my own sense is that the “ financially illiterate ” can be broadly divided into five categories. let me explain : 5. the first form of financial illiteracy, i call “ wise illiteracy ” and people as “ wise illiterates ”. now you must be wondering that how a person can be called wise and illiterate in the same breath. when i say “ wise illiterates ”, i am referring to the victims of madoffs of the world or the people who happily submit to the financial scams – exchange scams, penny stock scams or exotic derivative products. this class does not only include individuals, but also corporates. they have all the resources at their command ; they understand risks in all its dimensions and pros and cons of their actions but despite that with an unnerving regularity, keep falling into the trap of mega level of scams. this happens in india as well as elsewhere across the globe. so, these are the “ wise illiterates ” in my definition. bis central bankers ’ speeches 6. the second category of financially illiterates i call them “ greed - driven illiterates ”. these are people who are well educated and well understand the risks involved in various financial decisions that they make. but in their case, greed overpowers sanity. believe me in reserve bank of india, every day we keep receiving strange complaints or the grievances from people, who were offered a big sum of money from the british government or a large corporate firm or someone has left them a big endowment. they are promised huge sums of money 5 million pounds or 10 million pounds, if they pay just a small fee. people end up paying once and then they fall into a trap. one payment call

organizations and municipalities can ’ t keep essential services going. this is why safeguarding the functioning of financial markets is essential for the health of the broader economy. in response to the extraordinary volatility caused by the pandemic, the fed greatly expanded its repo operations and began purchasing sizable quantities of u. s. treasury securities and agency mortgage - backed securities. these actions to provide massive liquidity have proven successful. they restored market functioning and averted what could have been a much more severe pullback from markets and the flow of credit to households and businesses. 4 deploying our tools in addition to the repo operations and asset purchases, we have established a number of programs to support the flow of credit to households, businesses, and state and local governments. 5 i won ’ t go into detail about all of the facilities, but i will emphasize two important points. first, they demonstrate the fed ’ s strong commitment to prevent lasting damage to the economy. second, the scale and reach of the response is an indication of the gravity and unique nature of the situation we are facing. although the facilities differ in important ways, reflecting the specifics of markets and sectors, they all share the goal of keeping credit flowing to households, businesses small and large, and other key segments of the economy. since the announcements and rollouts of the various facilities, we have seen a significant improvement in the pricing and availability of credit. 6 2 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches somewhat paradoxically, despite the clear effect that these facilities have had on the availability of credit, actual take - up of the facilities has been relatively low. but this is in fact a measure of success — the existence of the facilities, even in a backstop role, has helped boost confidence to the point where borrowers are able to access credit from the private market at affordable rates. it ’ s worth noting that the federal reserve does not act alone. as my colleague chair powell says, “ the fed has lending powers, not spending powers. " 7 sound healthcare policy and the ability of fiscal authorities to put cash directly in the hands of americans are both essential for the economy to endure this devastating episode. conclusion i ’ ll conclude with this : if the history of central banking teaches us one thing, it ’ s that “ necessity is the mother of invention. ” severe crises demand innovative and decisive responses, and the federal reserve is striving to deliver just that. these are unprecedented times, and the pandemic presents truly