facility for states governments 21. to enable the state governments to better manage their fiscal situation in terms of their cash - flows and market borrowings, certain relaxations are being permitted with regard to availment of overdraft ( od ) facilities. accordingly, the maximum number of days of od in a quarter is being increased from 36 to 50 days and the number of consecutive days of od from 14 to 21 days. this facility will be available up to september 30, 2021. the ways and means advance ( wma ) limits of states have already been enhanced on april 23, 2021. 22. the relevant circulars / notifications relating to all the announcements will be issued separately, starting today. concluding remarks 23. the immediate objective is to preserve human life and restore livelihoods through all means possible. the second wave, though debilitating, is not unsurmountable. as i have said earlier, it is during our darkest moments that we must focus on the light. we have lessons to draw from our experience of last year, when as a nation we came together and overcame the once - in - ageneration challenge imposed by the first wave of the pandemic. 24. at the rbi, we stand in battle readiness to ensure that financial conditions remain congenial and markets continue to work efficiently. we will work in close co - ordination with the government to ameliorate the extreme travails that our citizens are undergoing in this hour of distress. we are committed to go unconventional and devise new responses as and when the situation demands. we must also stay focused on our future, which appears bright even at this juncture, with india set to emerge as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. today, we have taken some steps and we will continue to be proactive throughout the year – taking small and big steps – to deal with the evolving situation. we must remain resolutely focused on a post pandemic future of strong and sustainable growth with macroeconomic and financial stability. i call upon all stakeholders to come forward once again to address the challenges posed by the current wave of the pandemic, while remaining on guard against future waves. in closing, i again quote the words of mahatma gandhi, “ our faith should be like an ever - burning lamp which not only gives us light but also illuminates the surroundings. ” 2 thank you, namaskar. 1 1 source : mind of mahatma gandhi

shocks happen, but whether inflation comes back to target after the initial effects of the shocks wear off. after that, the next test of policy is how difficult the adjustment process is for getting inflation back to target. one problem is that we could get more shocks. food inflation has been coming in higher than expected, and it surprised us once again in the latest consumer price index ( cpi ) release from statistics south africa. there is a global dynamic to elevated food price inflation, but now we are also worrying about load - shedding driving up food prices, as electricity shortages start to disrupt the production and storage of food. the exchange rate outlook has also deteriorated recently. at the start of this year, markets were optimistic that us inflation was coming down, that the us dollar had peaked in late 2022, and that the us federal reserve ( fed ) would be able to pause rate hikes soon and even think about cutting rates. recent data have undermined this benign view. the us economy still appears to be running hot, and markets have rapidly priced in an extra half a percentage point of fed hikes, relative to where we were earlier in 2022. this has helped weaken the rand from around r17 per dollar in january 2023 to over r18 to the dollar recently. domestic factors also have not helped. the local news flow has been mostly rand negative, for instance around load - shedding. local interest rates are also well below those in some peer economies, adding to a weaker currency. for example, brazil ’ s policy rate is at 13. 75 %, mexico ’ s is at 11 % and hungary ’ s is 13 %. in a world where the dollar is weakening, the rand is likely to benefit along with other currencies. but february was not kind to the market consensus on a weaker dollar, and the rand outlook has correspondingly become more worrying, once again. a second problem is that south africans might start seeing a higher level of inflation as normal. for a start, inflation expectations have risen. the fourth quarter survey of inflation expectations, published by the bureau for economic research ( ber ), registered expectations of 6. 1 % inflation for 2023, up from 5. 9 %, and 5. 6 % for 2024, up from 5. 3 %. over five years, expectations are at 5. 5 %, up from 5. 4 % previously. of course, respondents are rational to see higher inflation at the moment, given elevated food and