. this needs to be expanded further to cover more areas so as to ultimately facilitate construction of an all - india hpi. sixth, there is a need for compilation of employment statistics, though this is not clearly in the purview of the reserve bank of india. however, from the perspective of monetary policy assessment the need for data on employment and wages cannot be ignored. the department can explore possibilities of conducting quick surveys on wages covering both formal and informal sectors. seventh, another area where the role of the department will increasingly become crucial is the assessment of the reserve bank ’ s financial inclusion initiatives through follow - up surveys. the survey finding could facilitate better policy design. in the conduct of surveys and in gathering market intelligence the role of regional offices of the department becomes critical. the regional offices can also help in providing early warning indications on price pressures, build - up of supply shocks, sudden developments in the real estate sector and so on. noted economist alfred marshall once said : “ statistics are the straw out of which, i, like every other economist, have to make the bricks ”. in the reserve bank, the statisticians not only provide straw, they also make their own bricks. this is evident from the fact that the statisticians are equal partners with the economists when they present their own independent assessment of growth and inflation in the monetary strategy committee chaired by the governor. in these meetings presentation of alternate viewpoints helps avoid the pitfalls of “ group - think ”. the reserve bank like many other central banks nevertheless draws its share of criticism for inaccuracies in its projection of growth and inflation. but, as observed by noted statistician arthur l. bowley in early 20th century, “ a statistical estimate may be good or bad, accurate or the reverse ; but in almost all cases it is likely to be more accurate than a casual observer ’ s impression, and in the nature of things can only be disproved by statistical methods ”. statistics has made significant strides since professor bowley ’ s time. hence, great bis central bankers ’ speeches challenges lie ahead for statisticians in the bank not only to improve the quality of data but also to refine statistical methods to aid better policy formulation. i once again extend a hearty welcome to all of you to this one day event. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches

. 4 % in 2020 and 1. 4 % in 2021. compared with the march 2019 ecb staff macroeconomic projections, the outlook for real gdp growth has been revised up by 0. 1 percentage points for 2019 and has been revised down by 0. 2 percentage points for 2020 and by 0. 1 percentage points for 2021. the risks surrounding the euro area growth outlook remain tilted to the downside, on account of the prolonged presence of uncertainties, related to geopolitical factors, the rising threat of protectionism and vulnerabilities in emerging markets. according to eurostat ’ s flash estimate, euro area annual hicp inflation was 1. 2 % in may 2019, after 1. 7 % in april, reflecting mainly lower energy and services price inflation. on the basis of current futures prices for oil, headline inflation is likely to decline over the coming months, before rising again towards the end of year. looking through the recent volatility due to temporary factors, measures of underlying inflation remain generally muted, but labour cost pressures continue to strengthen and broaden amid high levels of capacity utilisation and tightening labour markets. looking ahead, underlying inflation is expected to increase over the medium term, supported by our monetary policy measures, the ongoing economic expansion and stronger wage growth. this assessment is also broadly reflected in the june 2019 eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area, which foresee annual hicp inflation at 1. 3 % in 2019, 1. 4 % in 2020 and 1. 6 % in 2021. compared with the march 2019 ecb staff macroeconomic projections, the outlook for hicp inflation has been revised up by 0. 1 percentage points for 2019 and revised down by 0. 1 percentage points for 2020. turning to the monetary analysis, broad money ( m3 ) growth stood at 4. 7 % in april 2019, after 4. 6 % in march. sustained rates of broad money growth reflect ongoing bank credit creation for the private sector and low opportunity costs of holding m3. the narrow monetary aggregate m1 continues to be the main contributor to broad money growth on the components side. the annual growth rate of loans to non - financial corporations increased to 3. 9 % in april 2019, from 3. 6 % in march. beyond short - term volatility, the annual growth rate of loans to non - financial corporations has moderated somewhat in recent months from its peak in september 2018, reflecting the typical lagged reaction to the slowdown in economic growth observed over