, neutrality or accommodation to guide the markets and the public on the likely future course of policy. one thought that comes to my mind is that if the unit of 25 basis points is not sacrosanct and just a convention, monetary policy can be well served by calibrating the size of the policy rate to the dynamics of the situation and the size of the change itself can convey the stance of policy. for instance, if easing of monetary policy is required but the central bank prefers to be cautious in its accommodation, a 10 basis points reduction in the policy rate would perhaps communicate the intent of authorities more clearly than two separate moves – one on the policy rate, wasting 15 basis points of valuable rate action to rounding off, and the other on the stance, which in a sense, binds future policy action to a pre - committed direction. likewise, in a situation in which the central bank prefers to be accommodative but not overly so, it could announce a cut in the policy rate by 35 basis points if it has judged that the standard 25 basis points is too little, but its multiple, i. e., 50 basis points is too much. this approach can also be useful when the central bank is on a tightening mode and potentially help avoid policy turnaround from forward guidance via stance too far into the future, which in a highly volatile global scenario, may not even be a year. i am articulating this idea not necessarily in search of a theory but in search of traction with domain experts and more particularly, with practitioner central bankers who face these dilemmas in their day - to - day lives. 8. at another level, a formidable challenge that emes will continue to face is the management of global spillovers. we live in a world of mobile capital flows where consequences of their arrivals, sudden stops and reversals are to be borne nationally. against this backdrop, a truly global financial safety net remains elusive. the strengthening of resources of the imf gets pushed out into time whenever we come together for spring or annual meetings. under these conditions, emes which are typically at the receiving end when global spillovers flare up, have no recourse but to build their own forex reserve buffers. paradoxically, the accumulation of reserves has become stigmatised, including with labels such as “ currency manipulation ”. as i see it, we may be unintentionally setting the stage for several eme currencies to break out and challenge the

over the last five years, our financial system, particularly our banking system, has been furthering financial inclusion and financial literacy with commitment, enthusiasm and earnestness. but financial inclusion is not an end in itself ; it is a means to higher and more stable levels of household welfare. in order to assess whether this more fundamental goal is being achieved, we need to measure the impact of inclusion programmes on individual households, particularly those at the lower end of the income distribution. here again, identification and tracking are pre - requisites for an effective monitoring and control mechanism. despite all our collective experience and expertise, one thing is clear : we need to improve our understanding of the poor and of poverty. who better to take us along the path of continuing education than professor abhijit banerjee? ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming prof. banerjee to deliver the first professor tendulkar memorial oration on “ identifying the poor ”. bis central bankers ’ speeches