revision of the base year in the case of wpi also led to some increase in the weights towards fuel and power and manufactured products away from primary articles. although changes in the weights for manufactured products were not substantial for the group as a whole, there has been a tilt in the weights towards non - food manufactured products reflecting changes in the production pattern over the decade. the number of commodities included in the new wpi series increased from 435 to 676, even after dropping / revising 176 items from the old series. given the limited efficacy of monetary policy to deal with food and fuel inflation, and the limits on using core cpi inflation measures, we have focused our attention on non - food manufactured products inflation as an indicator of demand - side pressures in the economy. bis central bankers ’ speeches generally, core inflation is a derived inflation measure from the headline. the transitory component of the headline, food and fuel, is excluded. this is the standard practice though there are many statistical methods of exclusion. the short point is that core inflation is designed to capture the persistent component of inflation, which is amenable to policy. while it is true that commodity prices influence the non - food manufactured products component of wpi, it is also true that the pass - through from higher commodity prices to wpi depends critically upon the underlying demand conditions in the economy. let me reiterate what we have said several times in the past. for an assessment of the inflation situation, in the reserve bank, we look at all the measures of inflation, both overall and disaggregated components, in conjunction with other economic and financial indicators. in the context of monetary policy formulation, it is important to have a robust primary measure of inflation at the national level. in this direction, the compilation and dissemination of cpi ( urban ), cpi ( rural ) and the cpi for the country by cso is an important step forward. however, long time series data, especially for the back period are not available for these new indices making them unsuitable for policy analysis. there is also a need to augment the price indices with appropriate coverage of the service prices to improve their overall representativeness. moreover, regular and more frequent updating of the base year for price indices is also important to reflect the structural changes in the economy and to enhance their representativeness. data interpretation is also important in areas other than monetary policy. one of the critical building blocks of the post - crisis basel iii package is the build up of counter

information. significant changes have also occurred in the social sphere. while on the one hand, costs of education have increased substantially, the longevity levels have also risen, on the other. taken together, this implies that the elderly are now required to achieve a constant rebalancing of their consumption and investment portfolios. the increased life expectancy has also compelled employers to move away from ad hoc funded superannuation schemes to defined contribution schemes. at the same time, the advances in information technology have lowered the costs of information acquisition and processing as also of searching a job. this, in turn, has significantly raised job mobility with attendant implications for family size and expenditure patterns. financial education assumes importance in this changed financial environment. in considering means to improve the financial status of families, financial education can play a critical role by equipping consumers with the knowledge required to choose from a myriad of financial products and providers. in addition, financial education can help provide individuals with the knowledge necessary to create household budgets, initiate savings plans, manage debt, and make strategic investment decisions for their retirement or for their children's education. being educated financially also enables individuals to better appreciate the possible contingencies and save for a rainy day, in an appropriate manner. it can empower consumers to become better shoppers, allowing them to procure goods and services at lower cost. this process, in turn, raises consumers'real purchasing power and multiplies the opportunities for them to consume, save, or invest. having these basic financial planning skills can help families to meet their near - term obligations and maximise their longer - term financial well - being. financial education is also an integral component of customer protection. despite concerted efforts, the current state of transparency coupled with the difficulty of consumers in identifying and understanding the fine print from the large volume of convoluted information, leads to an information asymmetry between the financial intermediary and the customer. for example, customers are often penalised for minor violations in repayments, although they have limited redressal mechanisms to rectify deficiencies in service by banks, rendering the banker - customer relationship one of unequals. in this relationship, it is the principal, that is, the depositor, who is actually far less powerful than the agent, that is, the bank. the representations received in regard to levying of unreasonably high service or user charges and enhancement of user charges without proper and prior intimation, and the