, keeping in view the operational requirements. since then, most of the banks have announced their bplrs. they are lower by 25 to 100 basis points for the public sector banks. during the first three quarters of 2003 - 04, the range of interest rate on advances above rs. 2 lakh ( other than for export credit ), at which substantial business is contracted has shown some decline. the policy review had also focussed attention on credit delivery. it has been the endeavour of the reserve bank to improve credit delivery mechanisms for agriculture, small and medium enterprises ( smes ) and other priority sectors. keeping this in view and in accordance with the policy statement, an ‘ advisory committee on flow of credit to agriculture and related activities ( chairman : prof. v. s. vyas ) ’ and a ‘ working group on flow of credit to ssi sector ( chairman : dr. a. s. ganguly ) ’ were constituted. the vyas committee has made systematic efforts to reach out to as many stakeholders as possible by visiting different parts of the country. in smaller groups the committee members have met with representatives of commercial banks, cooperatives and rrbs, government administrators, ngo leaders and other knowledgeable persons in 15 states of the country. on the basis of these deliberations, the committee is planning to submit its interim report shortly, covering issues such as rate of interest on agriculture credit, npa norms in agricultural financing, outreach in the context of service area approach and micro finance. the committee is also looking into institutional and structural aspects of nabard and rrbs, as also the operation of lok nayak jaiprakash fund. the ganguly working group is examining issues relating to credit flow to medium enterprises also. the group has held meetings with select ssi associations and experts. the reserve bank has set up a ‘ committee on procedures and performance audit on public services ( chairman : shri s. s. tarapore ) ’ and mirror ad hoc committees have been set up by each bank. the committee set up by the reserve bank has submitted three reports. the first report covers foreign exchange transactions, the second covers government transactions and the third deals with banking operations relating to deposit accounts and other facilities. all the three reports are focused on common persons. concerned departments of reserve bank are examining the recommendations made in these reports. with the functioning of the reserve bank committee and the ad hoc committees it is expected that there would be perceptible improvement in customer services and a

stanley fischer : recent developments in the israeli economy ; future paths of the imf and the world bank speech by professor stanley fischer, governor of the bank of israel, at the imf - world bank annual meetings, washington dc, 22 october 2007. * * * mr. chairman, distinguished governors, mr. rodrigo de rato, managing director of the international monetary fund, mr. robert zoellick, president of the world bank group, delegation members, colleagues and former colleagues, ladies and gentleman : these meetings take place not only at a challenging time in the international economy, but also at a time of unexpected changes in the leadership of both the bank and the fund. i will use this opportunity to discuss the futures of each of these two great institutions. but let me start with recent developments in the israeli economy. 1. the israeli economy the israeli economy has been growing at an average annual rate of more than 5 percent, since 2004. in 2007, inflation is expected to be within the target range of 1 - 3 percent per year. the budget should end the year close to balance. the balance of payments is in a surplus of between 4 and 5 percent of gdp, and foreign direct and financial investments continue to flow into the economy. controls on capital flows have been removed progressively over the last fifteen years, and the capital account is essentially totally liberalized. the exchange rate floats freely and the bank of israel has not intervened in the foreign exchange markets since 1997. fiscal discipline has reduced the share of government spending in gdp from 52 percent in 2003 to 44 percent this year. fiscal discipline, together with privatizations and sustained growth, has reduced the debt to gdp ratio from more than 100 percent in 2003 to a level expected to be about 82 percent at the end of this year – a level that is still too high but that is expected to continue to decline. growth has reduced the unemployment rate, from more than 11 percent in 2003 to about 7. 5 percent at present. this has been accompanied by an increase in the participation rate, which is very low in israel. the poverty rate – a relative measure in israel – is beginning to decline but more needs to be done to improve the standard of living of the poorest members of the population. the impressive achievements of the israeli economy are due in part to the global boom, but also to improved economic policies based on the understanding that the only way to sustainable growth, particularly for a small economy, is to pursue market - based policies and to embrace