companies to do what lici is doing here today and come up with more innovative products in this field. the initial undertaking towards expanding access to insurance for the poor is diversifying the products. in their current form, insurance policies are too technical and complicated to be understood by the ordinary man on the street. given the structure of fiji ’ s economy, it is not just about extending any product to the poor, but providing products that are of value to them and which produce a reasonable return. micro life by lici ladies and gentlemen, today, i am extremely pleased to help launch a new micro - insurance product into our economy, called micro life, courtesy of the life insurance corporation of india. micro life is an endowment - type micro - insurance product providing death, disability, accident and funeral expense benefits, besides substantial savings and returns on maturity. this is the first ever individual and comprehensive micro - insurance product for fiji. the initiative is welcomed by the rbf as we believe in innovative financial products in the economy and such introduction is the stepping stone for financial inclusion at large. perhaps the first of its kind in pacific, the product aims to provide low cost life insurance solutions to the segments of society who have up to this point in time, been under served. the product clearly fits our picture of promoting greater financial inclusion. ladies and gentlemen it would be remiss of me not to say anything about the provider. life insurance corporation of india ( lici ) is no small operation. it is a global life insurance company with headquarters in mumbai, india and is fully owned by the government of india. lici, fiji is a branch of the parent company and has been operating in fiji for more than 54 years. the fiji operations of lici are guided by the insurance laws in fiji ( insurance act, 1998 ) and are governed by the reserve bank of fiji. today, lici in fiji is a prominent player in the financial sector of the country, operating through a network of branch offices in suva, lautoka and labasa, besides agency offices in nine other centers. the vision of lici fiji is to become the preferred insurer of choice for the people of fiji. we thank the company for moving further on its vision in the case of its new micro life product. bis central bankers ’ speeches conclusion in concluding, i would just wish to say that micro - insurance is a vital tool for the country ’ s low income people to protect themselves from adversity. if low income

raghuram rajan : financial sector reforms talk by dr raghuram rajan, governor of the reserve bank of india, at the delhi economics conclave 2013, delhi, 11 december 2013. * * * the economy is stabilizing, but there is no room for complacency. some part of improvement in the cad has happened due to suppressing gold imports. not all the measures to reduce fiscal deficit are of high quality. we have considerable work to do still. at the same time the country faces elections next year. a stable government post elections, while likely, cannot be taken for granted. this implies that all parties have to work together today to ensure that any government that emerges post - election has the time to come to terms with the challenges of managing the indian economy. otherwise, markets and rating agencies may not be willing to cut the new government any slack. more generally, it would be overly complacent and possibly dangerous for parties to postpone necessary legislation with the idea that they will pass bills post - election. postelection politics may become even more challenging, whoever assumes power. similarly, any slowdown in putting large stalled projects back on track before the elections or any fiscal slippage, will only amplify the already large challenges the new government will have to face. it will benefit the nation enormously if parliament passes key bills and if the current authorities continue to take actions to improve growth and fiscal health, including raising diesel prices to market levels and eliminating other poorly targeted subsidies. this conclave, however, is about the medium term. looking to the medium term, our measure of success should be the jobs that are created ; created not by giving government subsidies or protections to labour - intensive industries or sectors but by developing a facilitating, competitive, environment that will encourage efficiency and creativity. the job agenda requires a disciplined focus on 4 issues : 1 ) we need to improve the quality of our infrastructure, especially the logistical support and power that industry and services need. grand plans are on the anvil, such as the delhi - mumbai industrial corridor. we need to complete such projects on time, and within budget. the success of the new delhi metro suggests that timeliness and cost control are not foreign to the indian psyche. 2 ) our youth need education and training for the jobs that will be created. some of this will be higher degrees, not just computer science but also design or civil engineering. some of it will be appropriate vocational education that teaches them