south asian region. i have identified six such policy priorities. taming inflation 6. multiple external shocks in the form of covid related global supply chain disruptions, food and energy crisis following the war in ukraine, and financial market volatility arising from the aggressive monetary policy tightening have exerted sustained price pressures in the south asian economies, as in other parts of the world. during the first three quarters of 2022, food price inflation in south asia averaged more than 20 per cent. the region's heavy dependence on imported fossil fuels has made it vulnerable to imported fuel inflation. for successful disinflation, credible monetary policy actions accompanied by targeted supply side interventions, fiscal, trade policy and administrative measures have become the key instruments. while the recent softening of commodity prices and supply chain bottlenecks should help in lowering inflation going ahead, risks to growth and investment outlook may rise if inflation persists at high level. prioritising price stability, may therefore be the optimal policy choice in the current context for the region. the approach to disinflation, however, needs to be mindful of the rising risks to the growth outlook in an environment of deteriorating prospects for global growth and trade activity. containing external debt vulnerabilities 7. the surge in external debt in recent years and associated vulnerabilities have undermined macroeconomic stability in several countries of the south asian region. external debt, which was already elevated in low - and middle - income countries ( that include all south asian economies ) in the pre - pandemic period, surged to us $ 9. 3 trillion in 2021 from us $ 8. 2 trillion in 2019, an increase of us $ 1. 1 trillion. 2 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches 8. the debt service suspension initiative ( dssi ) was set up by the g20 in may 2020. up to december 2021, an estimated us $ 12. 9 billion of debt service was deferred. according to the world bank, 60 per cent of the 73 dssi - eligible countries are at high risk of debt distress or are already experiencing it. it is estimated that total external debt service payments on public and publicly guaranteed debt by poorest countries may rise by 35 per cent to over us $ 62 billion in 2022 and to remain high up to 2024 due to rising global interest rates and the compounding of interest on dssi debt service deferrals. 9. even though the participation of private creditors was encouraged

evolved as a mix of various independent functions. thus we have credit functions as a separate activity, deposit taking as another different function, a host of payment facilities - each as a distinct activity, other services and so on. it is now time to look at consolidation of all these inter - related functions. technology has already provided an answer in the form of total branch automation, which has now given way to the core banking systems, and the facility of single - window service at branches. while this traditional approach towards consolidation may be ensuring that the customers of today are retained by a bank, the growth of new clientele will, however, be related to other progressive measures to be taken by banks. an outward looking consolidation holds the key. consolidation of all types of financial services which a customer of a bank may require needs to be offered by banks. while some steps have been taken by banks in the form of universal banking and the offering of related financial services such as insurance, tax advice, securities market operations, depository functions and the like, the future may witness alliances with service providers who may in today ’ s context appear to have to relationship with traditional banking concepts. for example, a mobile phone user, who is a customer of particular telecommunication service provider, may switch preferences to another bank if the phone company does not link its services to that of a particular bank with whom the user is banking with. thus strategic alliances with varied service providers may become a necessity. the next major challenge arises out of the forces of competition. traditional concepts relating to competition from other players in the same line of business will indeed exist but these will pale into oblivion in the form of competition from hitherto unexplored and unanticipated areas. easy finance schemes by retailers of consumer durable articles will obviate the need for short term loams by customers of banks, thus resulting in a dwindling retail loan portfolio. banks can overcome this challenge by providing refinance to the retailer who would be in requirement of funds for improving his business turnover portfolio. the essence of this is that competition may have to be exploited as an opportunity. planning for the unanticipated and looking for opportunities hold the key to the successful bank of the future. in this connection, i draw your attention to the report of the rbi group on rural credit and microfinance and suggest that banks which are first movers would stand to gain substantially in terms of expanding their retail portfolio. technology implementation comes with its attendant requirements