growth achieved so far and the one projected ahead has many facilitators, but implementation and leveraging of technology is, by far, amongst the biggest enablers in the context. i have divided my talk today into three parts. in the first part we would look at core banking, the journey so far and the need to look “ beyond core banking ”. in the second part i would be touching upon the initiatives taken by idrbt and the areas and technologies that the banks should set their focus on. in the concluding part i would be speaking on the initiatives taken by the reserve bank of india in the area of information technology. part i core banking solution – an assessment core banking systems ( cbs ) have facilitated building up customer - centric, service oriented architecture of banking services at front end and also created the capacity to efficiently handle large volumes of transactions, data and book - keeping requirements. cbs is positioned as an integrated solution to the basic banking operations pertaining to deposits, withdrawals, credit delivery, and attendant backend jobs, mainly in the retail and small business segments. it has enabled the introduction of efficient and convenient delivery channels like atms, net banking, tele banking etc. so, when the banking industry has reached, so to say, a critical mass as far as using cbs is concerned, what ’ s next? do we bis central bankers ’ speeches need to go “ beyond core banking ” and if so, what should be the areas and technologies that the banks need to focus on? let us now look at the banking services in india from a different perspective. it is said that india lives in its villages. then, isn ’ t it strange that only 5 % of them have proper banking services and that there ’ s only 1 branch per 15, 000 persons. it is also a fact that although banking in india is fairly well developed in certain areas, it is fairly under - penetrated and grossly under - served in other areas. if one views the areas which have not been served, it may be said that that until now, banks have not seen banking in rural areas as an attractive business, although, in the recent past, the opportunity and growth in rural markets is equalising with urban markets. the fact that there is tremendous potential for inclusive banking is, now, making banks recognise rural banking as economically - viable, at least to a certain extent. to make this become attractive, technology provides solutions. banks need to utilise technology to harness this potential by

to support our economy ’ s trend of growth, and closely examine changes in real economic and financial stability conditions, we will need to judge carefully the necessity of any adjustment in the degree of accommodation. in this process we will have to devote special care to making sure that potential financial system risks, such as the buildup of household debt and the possibility of capital outflows, do not materialize. in order to operate our monetary policy effectively, accurate assessment and forecasting of financial and economic conditions are essential. and on the basis of this we will have to maintain consistency in our policy - making, while formulating the directions for our monetary policy operations from a medium - term perspective and communicating on them with the market. while devoting efforts to the efficient operation of our monetary policy, we will not hesitate to provide advice on pending economic issues overall. short - term policy responses to the risks facing us mentioned earlier are of course important, but when looked at from a long - term 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches perspective i believe that the work of resolving the structural vulnerabilities in our economy is a task that cannot be delayed any longer. through in - depth research we will have to precisely diagnose the urgent economic issues before us, seek viable responses to them, and consistently propose these to the policy authorities. to enhance our monetary policy ’ s effectiveness we will need to reconsider our policy framework and instruments. taking into account the changes in the relationship between growth and prices, as well as the importance of the central bank ’ s role in financial stability, we will have to deliberate deeply on measures to facilitate efficient operation of our inflation targeting system. since there is a possibility that, together with the drop in our potential growth rate, the scope for our base rate operations will become narrower than previously, it will be necessary from a medium - to longterm perspective to also devise measures for securing our policy capacity. we will have to respond actively to the changes in our financial environment due to the developments of fintech and new technologies such as blockchain. technological innovation these days is so rapid and complex that it is difficult to compare it with past cases. these changes do bring to us new opportunities and convenience, but they can also lead to unanticipated risks and also threaten our financial system ’ s stability. we will have to strengthen our research on the impacts that digital innovation is having on the real and financial economies, while at the same time also participating actively