works out to be about 7. 0 percent. unless there are totally unexpected shocks, inspite of some adverse impact of tsunami which is localised, the projected gdp growth for the year in the range of 6. 0 to 6. 5 percent should materialise comfortably. in response to the impact of tsunami, rbi has adopted a three - track approach. first, ensuring supply of currency, banking services with relaxations in procedures, as appropriate, liberal provision and restructuring of credit for consumption as also resuming productive activities, finance for rebuilding houses and coordinating with state governments, nabard, nhb and commercial banks. this process is still underway and the rbi ’ s task force constituted for the purpose is directly in communication with over 40 branches of commercial banks catering to the affected areas. second, monitoring of financial markets, which remain largely unaffected. third, assessing the impact which indicates enormous human suffering and considerable localised loss of assets in both public and household sector but with marginal impact on overall growth and the external sector and manageable additional expenditure in the central and state budgets. the mid - term review devoted considerable attention to issues relating to price - stability and inflation expectations. the wpi inflation, on a year - to - year basis decelerated to 6. 4 percent during week ended december 25, 2004. in view of several uncertainties and the fact that all indirect effects of increases in oil prices domestically are yet to be fully transmitted, the projection at around 6. 5 percent made in the review, continues to be valid. cpi ( industrial workers ) inflation, year - on - year, rose to 4. 2 percent in november 2004 from 3. 1 percent a year ago. in this regard, it is necessary to reiterate the serious concerns expressed in the review in regard to price stability and inflation expectations for three reasons. first, inflation is a major problem for the poor. second, stabilising inflation expectations is critical to ensuring enhanced investment activity in the private sector, which is a crucial element of current strategy for growth and welfare. finally, our economy is now more integrated with the global economy, and hence, maintenance of price - stability is critical for ensuring financial stability. in this background, both monetary and fiscal policies give considerable attention to price stability, as part of a growth - oriented strategy. the hard earned gains in this regard could be reversed if there is a perception of dilution in commitment to contain undue inflationary pressures. in assessing the risks of higher inflation it

institution • except, as provided below, an account holder shall not be restricted as to the number of deposits which may be made to the account without incurring any additional charge • the banking institution may charge account holders for transactions at electronic facilities which are not operated by the account holder ’ s banking institution as well as other fees and charges for specific banking services which are not covered under the basic banking account scheme • every periodic statement issued for the basic banking account should invariably cover on it or by way of separate communique maximum number of withdrawals permitted during each periodic cycle without additional charge and the consequences of exceeding such maximum and the fee if any, for the use of electronic facilities which are not operated by the account holder ’ s banking institution. an interesting feature of basic banking account scheme is the element of transparency i. e. the banking institution should, prior to opening the account, furnish a written disclosure to the account holder describing the main features of the scheme i. e. the initial deposit amount required to open the account, minimum balance to be maintained, charge per periodic cycle for use of such account, maximum number of withdrawal transactions without any additional charge and other charges imposed on transactions for availing electronic facility not operated by the account holder ’ s banking institution, etc. coverage of banking services ( ratio of demand deposit accounts to the adult population ) region / state / union territory northern region haryana himachal pradesh jammu & kashmir punjab rajasthan chandigarh delhi north - eastern region arunachal pradesh assam manipur meghalaya mizoram nagaland tripura eastern region bihar jharkhand orissa sikkim west bengal andaman & nicobar islands central region chhattisgarh madhya pradesh uttar pradesh uttaranchal western region goa current accounts savings accounts total population adult populatio n ( above 19 years ) total no. of accounts no. of acc. per 100 of popula tion no. of acc. per 100 of adult pop. gujarat maharashtra dadra & nagar haveli daman & diu southern region andhra pradesh karnataka kerala tamil nadu lakshadweep pondicherry all - india indian scenario bank nationalization in india marked a paradigm shift in the focus of banking as it was intended to shift the focus from class banking to mass banking. the rationale for creating regional rural banks was also to take the banking services to poor people. the branches of commercial banks and the rrbs have increased from 8321 in the year 1969 to 68, 282 branches as at the