##term interest rates. see ben s. bernanke ( 2012 ), “ monetary policy since the onset of the crisis, ” speech delivered at “ the changing policy landscape, ” a symposium sponsored by the federal reserve bank of kansas city, held in jackson hole, wyo., august 30 - september 1. for simulation results showing the effects of the fomc ’ s asset purchases, see hess chung, jean - philippe laforte, david reifschneider, and john c. williams ( 2012 ), “ have we underestimated the likelihood and severity of zero lower bound events? ” journal of money, credit and banking, vol. 44 ( february supplement ), pp. 47 – 82. for a study focusing only on the second large - scale asset purchase program that finds comparable effects, attributing to that program a bit less than a 1 percent increase in output and 700, 000 new jobs, see jeffrey c. fuhrer and giovanni p. olivei ( 2011 ), “ the estimated macroeconomic effects of the federal reserve ’ s large - scale treasury purchase program, ” public policy briefs 11 – 02 ( boston : federal reserve bank of boston, april ). for a study using different methodologies that finds significantly smaller effects, see michael t. kiley ( 2012 ), “ the aggregate demand effects of short - and long - term interest rates, ” finance and economics discussion series 2012 – 54 ( washington : board of governors of the federal reserve system, august ) ; and for one that finds larger effects, see christiane baumeister and luca benati ( 2010 ), “ unconventional monetary policy and the great recession : estimating the impact of a compression in the yield spread at the zero lower bound, ( pdf ) ” european central bank working paper series 1258 ( frankfurt : european central bank, october ). see board of governors, “ fomc statement, ” in note 10. bis central bankers ’ speeches conclusion in sum, the u. s. economy continues to be hampered by the lingering effects of the financial crisis on its productive potential and by a number of headwinds that have hindered the normal cyclical adjustment of the economy. the federal reserve is doing its part by providing accommodative monetary policy to promote a stronger economic recovery in a context of price stability. as i have said before, however, while monetary policy can help support the economic recovery, it is by no means a panacea for

human interaction between bank personnel and their customers – now their customers are faceless telephones and mobile calls and clicks of the mouse! now it is not just borrowers who choose the bank which offers a competitive price but even depositors who call for tenders for placing term deposits! we have indeed come a long way. in the area of foreign exchange, almost all needs of foreign exchange can be met by banks, without requiring rbi ’ s approval. in fact now that we are so liberal we find very few takers. but we at rbi are constantly reviewing the quality of service, rendered by banks in order to bring about more improvements. therefore, to address the issue of banking services to the common man in particular, rbi recently appointed a committee, styled as committee for procedures and performance audit of public services ( cppaps ) under the chairmanship of shri s. s. tarapore, a former deputy governor of rbi – some of you might be well aware of his contribution in the field of banking and finance in india, especially his contribution as chairman of the committee on capital account convertibility – which till date remains a bible for capital account convertibility. the committee observed that there is a wide gap between the intent with which policies are formulated and the procedures followed by banks which totally derail the intent of the policy. this committee was unique in many ways. first, it focussed solely on the services rendered by banks to the common man. secondly, in its evaluation of services it started from the customer - end. the committee undertook incognito visits to bank branches including rbi ’ s offices for a first hand experience of difficulties faced by the public at large. thirdly, it observed that issuance of instructions by banks to its branches and their implementation at the grassroots level were two different things. the rbi has initiated action on the basis of the recommendations of the committee. to illustrate, let me mention a few of them : • let me begin with the rbi itself. the reserve bank has introduced a standardised application form for government of india savings bonds popularly known as rbi bonds. the application form also includes rights and responsibilities of applicants. it clearly indicates within how much time customer should expect the bond to be delivered to him and also to whom one should approach if appropriate service is not provided. • the reserve bank has introduced oltas to render more efficient tax collection. • banks have been advised to review their existing policies and procedures with regard to delivering of cheque book over the counters,