lack of participation in decisionmaking and in civil, social and cultural life. one important thing to note is that poverty cannot be defeated through charity. empowering people with a means to sustaining themselves in the long term is the solution that can defeat poverty. 5. unemployment is at the center of poverty. for the poor, labour is often the only asset that can be used to improve the lives and wellbeing. it is crucial that we empower the poor who have the potential but often lack opportunities to shape their lives. bidirectional cause - effect relationship between financial exclusion and poverty 6. as i said earlier, poverty is generally associated with a low level of income. this income is primarily directed towards consumption thereby leaving very little for saving / investment. a low level of savings obviates the need for a banking account thereby creating financial exclusion and lack of investment opportunities. this creates a barrier for financial inclusion from the demand perspective. conversely, financial exclusion can deprive people of the benefits and the incentives offered by the financial system. poverty can, therefore, be self - fuelling from generations to generations. bis central bankers ’ speeches how to break this vicious circle? 7. i am not an economist. many eminent speakers would dwell on this issue during the day. however, i wish to put forward some perspectives as i see them. let me begin with measurement of poverty. i am not on whether those spending below rs. 32 in rural areas or below rs. 47 in urban areas ( as defined by the rangarajan committee ) or rs. 27 and rs. 33 respectively as fixed by tendulkar panel earlier, are to be considered poor. my question is whether such income levels across countries or states ( even after adjusting for purchasing power parity ) are comparable without taking into account the availability, quality and cost of such basic amenities as health care, education, transport, sanitation etc. would not a composite index ( if one can be devised ) of these two elements would be a truer indicator of real poverty level? this can be elaborated with several measurable examples but time limit does not permit to do so. 8. extending that argument further, would it mean that there could be two ways to address the challenge of defeating poverty? a. state ensures availability of quality amenities i mentioned earlier to all needy citizens – question is, whether it is feasible? b. empower and facilitate all citizens to earn such levels of income that they can buy these services from the open market

’ s desperately poor live in asia. according to the asian development bank ( adb ), 620 million people within the region are still living on less than one us dollar per day and if we raise the limit to two us dollars per day, the number would be more than a billion. hence, a policy of inclusive growth becomes critical and, indeed, essential. second, the share of asia in billionaires and high networth individuals ( hnis ), relative to other regions, is growing disproportionately, which could flag concerns regarding maintenance of social and political stability. the consequences of growing regional inequalities are being felt in several asian economies. there is evidence of several policy initiatives in this regard also. third, the urban population in asia may double by the year 2030 relative to the year 2000. by 2030, asia will have about 2. 7 billion urban people, while all other regions in the world will have a combined urban population of about 2. 3 billion. this will result in large demands on urban infrastructure. at the same time, due to globalisation and growth experiences, the urban residents will be more demanding in regard to quality of urban infrastructure and services. hence, public - private participation, cutting across national boundaries, may become significant. fourth, the demographic trends in asia over the next 50 years are expected to be reflective of the past 50 years for developed countries, with significant divergence among the various asian economies. the expected increase in old age dependency during 2000 to 2025, and further on to 2050, may increase fiscal pressures. however, countries such as india and indonesia are expected to reap benefits of demographic dividend over a longer period ahead, than the other asian economies, perhaps for another 25 years. reaping benefits of demographic dividend is dependent upon enhancing quality of health conditions, imparting better skills and improving public infrastructure so as to take advantage of globalisation. in the absence of appropriate public - policy initiatives, what could be a demographic dividend could turn out to be a demographic problem. finally, the global community has to address the issue of adequacy of voice and representation to a rising asia in the current international financial architecture. in other words, governance structures and arrangements need to reflect the new realities of a rapidly growing asia, in the interests of all stake holders. an issue of contemporary importance is the possible interaction between recent events in global financial markets and asia. as of now, all relevant aspects