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

globalisation and cyclical developments have been kind to the norwegian economy. few countries are benefiting as much as norway – and losing as little – in the current environment of freer trade in goods and services and cross - border labour mobility. 3. challenges to monetary policy after almost two decades of high inflation, the rise in prices stabilised in many countries in the 1990s. the year - on - year rise in prices in the industrial countries was about 13 per cent at the beginning of the 1980s. in the course of the following decade, it fell to below 2 per cent. today, most central banks orient monetary policy towards low and stable inflation. the practical implementation of monetary policy can vary, but the common objective is price stability. low and stable inflation has contributed to solid growth in the global economy in recent years. despite rising oil prices, international conflicts that have led to uncertainty, and other disturbances, the impact on inflation and output has been moderate. the perception in norway in the 1960s and 1970s, as in other countries, was that strong growth and low unemployment could be achieved if we were only willing to accept somewhat higher inflation. but it was gradually recognised that this was not the case. in 1980, odd aukrust, research director at statistics norway said the following about economic developments in norway : “ unfortunately, there is even less reason for optimism this time. it appears that the competitive position of norwegian manufacturing will weaken in the coming year. the main problem is that no one controls price developments. with an inflation rate of around 10 per cent a year, no one dares to make investments that could stop this price carousel. ” 3 from the second half of the 1980s, the authorities started using monetary policy to control inflation. at the beginning of the 1990s, inflation had fallen, and since 1988, inflation has averaged 2½ per cent. studies of price developments for all goods and services show that price formation underwent a permanent shift around 1988. 4 a transition occurred from a period of high and unstable inflation to the current period of low and stable inflation. bringing the rate of inflation down had its costs. in the years from 1988 to 1992, the norwegian economy experienced the deepest recession of the post - war period. but growth picked up quickly, and the 1990s as a whole were a golden decade. it also appears that the present decade will be favourable. a foundation was laid when the norwegian authorities took control of inflation. developments over the past 40 years illustrate that the most important contribution monetary policy can