a few. given this overwhelmingly developmental focus on financial inclusion, the relationship between financial inclusion and monetary policy is obviously unfashionable. recently, however, interest is growing in the effects of financial inclusion on the conduct of monetary policy and its contribution to human welfare through this channel. the initial conditions to spur this interest were always in existence. the un ’ s capital development fund or uncdf reports evidence of financial inclusion contributing to stabler financial systems. financially included economic agents appear to be able to ride out interest rate cycles pro - cyclically instead of being impacted counter - cyclically. in my remarks today, i would like to contribute to this growing interest in the symbiosis between financial inclusion and monetary policy by ( a ) assimilating the received wisdom and empirical evidence that has been accumulated so far on the subject ; and ( b ) drawing applicable lessons therefrom for india. this assumes relevance in the context of the pandemic during which the loss of life and livelihood impacted the financially disadvantaged and vulnerable households and businesses the most. drawing upon its experience with financial inclusion, the rbi crafted a pandemic response that reached out in the form of unconventional measures to those afflicted sections of society, keeping finance flowing, and financial institutions and markets functional, especially when personal incomes were lost and the future was highly uncertain. in this endeavour, i am emboldened by the significant milestone that the reserve bank of india ( rbi ) has passed in its journey towards financially empowering all indians – i refer to the construction and public release of a national financial inclusion index ( fi - index ) in september 2021. the index is based on 97 indicators, representing ‘ access ’ or the supply of financial inclusion infrastructure, ‘ usage ’ or demand for financial services and ‘ quality ’, or inequality in access and usage due to lack of financial literacy and protection. the index takes values from 0 to 100 and implicitly sets the goal for the rbi – 100 per cent financial inclusion for india. by 2021, we have passed the halfway mark, doing best in access or the supply of the financial infrastructure, and lagging the most in usage or demand to be financially included. this assumes importance from the point of view of the ambitious agenda set up by the national strategy for financial inclusion ( nsfi ), 2019 - 24 and the national strategy for financial education ( nfse ) 2020 - 25 in its vision of a financially literate and empowered india. there are other collateral benefits attached to

forward to interactive discussions from ceos of all banks present in this room. i have also taken note with satisfaction that the entire banking industry is following this discussion today through virtual means. for our first edition of the bank of mauritius thought leadership series, i would like to thank our panellists also. we are indeed privileged to have with us professor the lord mervyn king, dr vera songwe, dr natacha valla, dr robert wardrop and mr daniel essoo. i also thank mr david marsh, chairman of the omfif who has kindly accepted to moderate today ’ s panel discussion. on this note, i wish you all successful deliberations. ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches