products brought to market through digital channels from beginning to end. the information obtained is key for monitoring and overseeing the practices of the credit institutions in offering consumer credit through digital channels, namely apps and online platforms. this process has been developed in strict cooperation with the credit institutions, and is a good example of the dialogue between supervisors and supervised entities that i have mentioned. 5. as has been publicised and featured in the news, consumer credit is growing rapidly in portugal, now at levels akin to those of before the financial crisis. it is vital to avoid successive cycles of excessive and injudicious lending followed by a sharp and lengthy slump. as is known, banco de portugal adopted a macroprudential measure aimed at preventing the accumulation of excessive risk on the banks ’ balance sheets and ensuring that households obtain sustainable financing, minimising the risk of arrears. its purpose is to help bring appropriate rigour to credit standards. consumer credit agreements signed after 1 july 2018 fall under that measure, which will therefore have an impact on the consumer credit market. the terms in which consumer credit is sometimes debated seem to me to be a genuine paradox for our time. in truth, the development and expansion of consumer credit come as a direct consequence of powerful trends, particularly the stagnation or reduction of salaries, the decline in saving and the hyperdevelopment of the financial sector. consumer credit is inseparably linked to a social model that places consumption as a core value. it is a central element of what we might call the ‘ credit society ', and, despite what we might wish to think, is a phenomenon present, albeit to varying degrees, in all the countries with developed financial systems. when things go wrong and the dream becomes a nightmare, moral judgements appear in public debate. while apparently uncontroversial in nature, in truth they are superficial judgements by and large, as they do not pay due regard to the underlying causes fuelling indebtedness, and ultimately abstract from the real roots of the issue, intentionally or otherwise. 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches in truth, as is clear, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with consumers taking on credit ; on the contrary, for a long time consumer credit has been an economic and social necessity. what should not and must not happen is irresponsible lending, disrespecting consumers ’ rights, with the intention of taking opportunistic economic advantage of bank customers ’ weaknesses and

be sufficient for financial stability and therefore financial stability has emerged as another key consideration for monetary policy, though jury is still out as to whether it should be added as an explicit objective of monetary policy. the fact remains that though the focus of monetary policy is mainly on inflation and growth, the underlying theme has always been financial stability. concluding observations 20. while india emerged relatively unscathed from the global financial crisis, there should be no room for complacency. as a member of the several multilateral institutions, india actively 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches participated in post crisis reforms of the international regulatory and supervisory framework under the aegis of the g20 and the basel committee. india remains committed to adoption of international standards and best practices in a phased manner, calibrated to our domestic conditions, wherever necessary. 21. from the perspective of the reserve bank, we will continue to focus on effective communication and coordination with all stakeholders to achieve broader macroeconomic objectives of price stability, growth and financial stability. 1 for instance, these included lending to financial institutions, targeted liquidity provisions for credit markets, outright purchases of public and private assets, purchase of government bonds and forward guidance. 2 basel committee on banking supervision ( 2010 ) : “ basel iii : a global regulatory framework for more resilient banks and banking systems ”, december. 3 to be implemented from april 1, 2020 4 mainly on five emerging - market countries, viz., brazil, india, indonesia, south africa, and turkey ( which were referred to as the ‘ fragile five ’ ) 5 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches