inclusive growth. strides made in access, but work remains to be done on usage and quality the financial inclusion index developed by rbi measures the progress achieved in financial inclusion across the three dimensions of access, usage and quality of financial services. a review of the underlying parameters indicates that while several strides have been made in building access, much work remains to be done in improving usage and quality. 1 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches let me explain this with an example. as per reporting by slbcs, banking access has been provided to every village ( or hamlet of 500 households in hilly areas ) within a five km radius, barring a few. data also indicates that it is the business correspondent ( bc ) model which has been leveraged in expanding such access. however, a recent survey undertaken by the reserve bank indicates that bcs largely provide only a limited set of services viz. cash - in / cash - out services and populations in far flung areas may still not have access to the full bouquet of banking services as would normally be available at bank branches. persisiting credit gaps despite significant penetration of credit in india, there is still ample scope for reducing credit gaps that can promote economic inclusivity and development. while credit delivery to the priority sectors has indeed improved, we still have a long way to go to meet the credit needs of the msmes1. similarly, nearly half of self - help groups ( shgs ) still remain to be credit linked while a considerable section of small and marginal farmers are yet to be covered under bank credit2. addressing these credit gaps demands a multi - pronged effort in which slbcs have a crucial role. expectations of slbcs i would like to cover four key areas where i believe slbcs can make an immensely positive contribution. ( i ) effective coordination with government and ngos firstly, effective coordination with government agencies and non - governmental organisations is imperative. being a collective forum, slbcs must foster strong partnerships with various government bodies to align banking initiatives with developmental programs. this includes working closely with local administrations to ensure that banking services reach underserved regions, facilitating the implementation of government schemes, and addressing region - specific issues through collaborative efforts. there is a need for sensitising the district administration on the scope of the lead bank scheme and the role of banks under it. besides this, staff at the operational level for both banks and government agencies associated with implementation of the lead bank scheme must be aware of the latest developments and emerging

of realigning, the uk dropped out of the ems. the result was a depreciation which was twice as large as it would have been in a realignment. these were the tensions inherent in the ems and its narrow exchange rate bands...... which ultimately led to the bands being enlarged to 15 per cent in august 1993. weidmann : i can very well remember where i was when i heard the news : in new york city. on times square i saw a large digital billboard with a ticker announcing the news. that was bis central bankers ’ speeches a crucial turning point for me. the way i had perceived it, the path towards european integration had up until then always been pointing in one direction : towards greater integration. however, the tensions in the system were now patently obvious. schlesinger : at all events, with these bands, proposed by france upon our advice, the ems functioned smoothly up until the introduction of the euro. in 1990, the bundesbank wrote that the participants in economic and monetary union would be inextricably linked to one another “ come what may ” and that such a union would be an “ irrevocable joint and several community which, in the light of past experience, requires a more far - reaching association, in the form of a comprehensive political union, if it is to remain durable ”. weidmann : the assessment at that time merely reflected the bank ’ s long - held position. as early as 1963, president karl blessing had stated that the introduction of monetary union should be conditional on political union. the bank ’ s stance has not only been consistent over time but has, in fact, taken on even greater relevance in a dramatic way owing to the recent crisis in the euro area. political union did not feature in the maastricht treaty at the end of 1991. how did the central bank council react to this? schlesinger : when i took office as president of the deutsche bundesbank in the summer of 1991, chancellor helmut kohl was still in favour of political union. however, the decision to implement monetary union by no later than 1999 was taken just four months later. this was a clear defeat for us. there is no other way of putting it. we had assumed that the treaty would be concluded with a definition of the entry criteria, but without a fixed date being set. weidmann : it is interesting that we are having a similar discussion now in