measurement of output and price. as member of the technical advisory committee of national accounts statistics ( nas ), statistics on prices and cost of living ( spcl ), revision of wpi and cpi series, etc., rbi has been playing a critical role. let me highlight a few recent initiatives. the procedure of converting current price estimate into constant price followed earlier, especially for estimating the output of financial sector, resulted in some kind of anomalies. in some cases, while estimate at current price was negative, constant price estimate was positive and increasing. however, in the last gdp revision ( 1999 - 00 series ), this problem was corrected after a series academic discussion with cso. similarly, treatment of some of the financial intermediaries like mutual funds was not defined clearly in sna 1993. and treating mutual funds similar to banks was conceptually not correct. recently, cso set up a committee in rbi to look into this matter and the recommendations of the committee has been accepted by tac of nas. besides, rbi is also working in close collaboration with cso for implementing the ensuing changes of sna revision due this year. let me cite an example of rbi ’ s recent involvement in price measurement issues. the need for integration cpis is nothing new. the national statistical commission ( 2001 ) recommended, inter alia, that the current cpis do not provide changes in the prices for the entire rural and urban population since they are designed to measure the changes in the prices of goods and services consumed by specific segments of the population and hence there is a need to compile the cpi separately for the entire rural and urban population. in this context, a sub - group set - up in rbi, recommended the compilation of separate cpis for whole rural and urban population and provided a roadmap for compilation. i happy to note that tac on spcl has finally accepted this and shortly we shall have cpi ( u ) and cpi ( r ). needless to mention that these price indices will be very useful for monetary policy purposes. application of statistical methods in rbi : need for further work before i conclude, let me outline a few areas of work in rbi where statisticians can contribute significantly. first, as monetary policy formulation largely depends on the forward - looking behaviour of the economy, the use of forecasting techniques automatically comes in the forefront. while traditional time series techniques are useful, we need to build up expertise on forecasting using calibrated models. such models

t rabi sankar : reserve bank of india and fintech - the road ahead keynote address by mr t rabi sankar, deputy governor of the reserve bank of india, at the moneycontrol india startup conclave, bengaluru, 7 july 2023. * * * good morning to all i am delighted to be present here at the india start - up conclave. all of you represent the best of the indian entrepreneurial spirit and it is my privilege to be addressing this gathering. india is one of the fastest growing large economies today, our population is young and adequately skilled, the policy environment is supportive of private enterprise, our capital markets are capable of funding good business ideas, the india stack - the envy of the world - all these factors have allowed many start - ups to bloom thereby creating a robust indian start - up ecosystem. fintech entities comprise a large part of this start - up ecosystem. the emergence of fintechs fintechs are transforming financial services across sectors, including credit, payment systems, wealth management, investment advice, insurance, financial inclusion, and even financial sector supervision. the covid - 19 pandemic has given a strong boost to digitisation - the fusion of technology and finance played a crucial role by facilitating smooth loan disbursals, robust 24x7 payment systems, uninterrupted access to financial services, and direct benefit transfers. new and innovative technologies brought by fintechs are helping in driving down cost, refocussing products and services and improving customer reach and experience. the ongoing developments, innovations, and emergence of new technologies will significantly shape the trends in the financial world of tomorrow. as a principal regulator of the financial system and with a mandate for ensuring financial stability, the rbi is closely watching the fast evolving world of fintechs. in fact, to provide necessary support to the nascent sector, more than a year ago, we had set up a fintech department to give dedicated focus to this sector and to foster innovation. i will take the opportunity today to share with you, how, we in the reserve bank, view the changes in the financial services space, caused by absorption of new and innovative technologies and the resulting issues like regulatory level playing field, consumer protection, innovation, and central bank digital currencies ( cbdcs ). regulation and fintech we believe that the fintech sector will play a crucial role in achieving objectives of greater financial inclusion, cost and time efficiency and so we