adverse impact on lives and livelihoods. we will need to accelerate digital ecosystems that will enable the smes to reconnect with their customers, markets and access the much needed finance for recovery. i therefore look forward to the panel discussions later today on reinventing smes through digital ecosystems that will provide an african perspective. i am sure that this will be supplemented by the global perspectives from the united nations development program on wednesday on inclusive digital finance for smes. however, we must remember that it is not just about digital platforms or finance, we also need to consider how to retool the skills and business models of smes as they pivot to the post covid - 19 era. second, is partnerships and collaborations. as we move forward, agility will be imperative particularly for incumbent institutions as they respond to changing customer preferences for anytime anywhere services. even before the pandemic, incumbent banks and telecommunication companies had started to develop partnerships with agile fintech companies. this trend will have to be accelerated in a safe and sustainable manner as we build back. we will this week hear from eminent leaders in the banking, telecommunication and technology sectors on their partnership and collaboration strategies. more interestingly, we will also hear from fintechs and start - ups on their journeys through the pandemic and the value proposition that they bring to building an inclusive ecosystem. third, is sustainable finance. at the heart of post covid - 19 recovery will be a renewed focus on people, purpose and planet ( 3ps ). for resilience, finance must take into account environmental, social and governance considerations. this is an area that the kenyan banking sector is setting the pace on. in 2015, kenyan banks established the sustainable finance initiative to embed sustainability in their values and processes. it is therefore befitting that some of the leading kenyan banks in these areas will be sharing their sustainable finance experiences and strategies going forward later this week. as we explore the opportunities of digitalization, we must remain seized of the risks. in particular, cybersecurity and data governance pose a risk particularly for the increased number of our citizens who are accessing digital systems for the first time. we must therefore ensure that we reflect on how to build cyber resilience in the new normal. equally important is the protection of data on digital platforms that increasingly transcend national borders. we need to urgently explore ways of ensuring our citizens are digitally literate and all participants in the digital ecosystem exercise responsible digital leadership and

. scheduled commercial banks ( scbs ) occupy a predominant position in the financial system, accounting for around three - fourths of the total assets. as at end - march 2007, the public sector banks ( psbs ) accounted for 70 per cent of the total assets of scbs. foreign banks operating in india accounted for about 8 per cent of the assets of scbs. the rrbs and the co - operative banks, with two broad segments of urban and rural co - operative banks also form an integral part of the indian financial system. broadly speaking, one can observe two distinct phases in the developments relating to public policy objectives underlying banking policy. the first phase viz. the two decades since 1970 represented the period of state control over the banking system, pre - emption of the major part of bank resources by the public sector and directed lending with administered interest rates. during this period, the nationalisation of major banks in 1969 saw banking policy giving a thrust to branch expansion in the rural and semi urban areas and stepping up of lending to the so called priority sectors viz. agriculture, small scale industry, self employed and small business sectors and weaker sections within these sectors. as a result, the branches of scheduled commercial banks increased from 8, 262 in june 1969 to 69, 471 in march 2006. the average population per branch office decreased significantly from 64, 000 to 16, 000 during the above period, with the share of rural branches increasing from 22. 2 per cent in june 1969 to a little over 51 per cent in march 1998. lending to the priority sectors was increased to the mandated target of 40 per cent. specialised regional rural banks were set up in 1975, especially in backward and tribal districts to cater to the needs of the weaker sections amongst farmers and non - farm small businesses entrepreneurs. national bank for agriculture and rural development ( nabard ) largely provided concessional refinance for lending done by the rural cooperative credit structure. the second phase after the early 1990s, represents the period of financial sector reform, higher allocation of credit to the private sector, lower pre - emption by the government sector, moving away from administered interest rates to market determined rates even for government borrowing, introduction of international best practices and regulatory policies for strengthening the financial sector, increased competitiveness with entry of new private sector banks and more foreign banks, and allowing private shareholding in public sector banks. listing of public sector banks on the stock exchanges made them consciously focus on bottom line, control npas, make investments in