Speeches & Media Interactions

Distinguished guests, participants, ladies and gentlemen, Good afternoon At the outset, let me thank the organisers for inviting me and giving me an opportunity to deliver the valedictory address and share some of my thoughts on a subject which continues to engage national as well as global attention. I believe there would have been fruitful deliberations on the topics of green and sustainable finance and the role of financial institutions, opportunities and challenges, aligning of regulatory and policy worlds, facilitating global financing, and integration of climate change aspects in credit risks of the financial institutions. Each of these topics require detailed deliberations and collectively they form the building blocks for creation of a robust ecosystem for green and sustainable finance for the economy and financial system at large.

I am very happy to be here amongst you in this historic location. I thank CII and USISPF for giving me this opportunity to be present here and share my thoughts. Both CII and USISPF have played important roles in fostering partnerships in trade, technology, investment and innovation between India and USA. I compliment them for their efforts in strengthening the bond between two important economies. In my remarks today, I wish to present my perspective on how India is poised to be a dynamic powerhouse of opportunities, innovation, and sustainable growth in the years to come.

It is a pleasure to be here at the 24th FIMMDA-PDAI Annual Conference in Bali, an island that shares a deep and rich heritage with India, marked by centuries of cultural and commercial ties. 2. The past year has been eventful for financial markets globally. The initial optimism that global central banks were poised for synchronised easing of interest rates, seemingly reaching the final

Shared Vision, Shared Responsibility – Strengthening NBFCs (Speech by Shri Swaminathan J, Deputy Governor at the Conference of Non-Banking Financial Companies held at Chennai on March 28, 2025) CA Shri Charanjot Singh Nanda, President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India; Chairpersons of the Audit Committee of the Boards, MDs & CEOs of NBFCs, and Statutory Auditors of NBFCs, Executive Directors from RBI and my colleagues from the Reserve Bank of India, Ladies and Gentlemen. A very good morning to all of you.

Governor Mr Ahmed Munawar, Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), Dr Mahamood Shougee, Chancellor of the Maldives National University, Mr Ahmed Imad, Deputy Governor, MMA, other senior colleagues of the MMA, distinguished presenters and panelists and participants, ladies and gentlemen, good morning to all of you.

Monetary policy announcements are associated with frissons of animated speculation rippling through public discourse. Projections are revised, and the balance of risks are re-tilted. Shadow monetary policy committees take positions in print and in sound bytes. Curve fitting the central bank commences – is it behind the curve? – and accordingly, bird-like postures are conjured to characterise its angle of repose. Markets get poised to reprice, and financial institutions reassess interest margins. Depositors and businesses exert conflicting pulls on public opinion. Questions rent the air on the likelihood of rate movements, by how much, and on shifts in stance.

I am happy to be here at the Global Leadership Summit which marks the 25th anniversary of CNBC TV18. I would like to congratulate Team CNBC TV18 for its successful journey over the years. It is indeed an honour for me to join this occasion to felicitate three distinguished former Governors of the Reserve Bank of India – Dr. C. Rangarajan, Dr. Bimal Jalan and Dr. Y.V Reddy.

This year’s Nobel Prize in physics celebrated the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in revolutionising the way we work and live. It is widely believed that AI and robotics will usher in a new wave of secular innovation, much like past breakthroughs in steam power and personal computers. Silently, new technologies are offering a way out of the cross currents of diverging macroeconomic and policy pathways, geopolitical tensions, geoeconomic fragmentation and climate change in which the global economy is transfixed. Accordingly, these technologies are heralding a brighter future, arguably holding the key for many emerging and developing economies to escape the middle-income trap. It is estimated that generative AI itself could increase global GDP by $7-10 trillion over the next three years. Large language models are estimated to increase the productivity levels of workers by 8 to 36 per cent. 

Good morning to you all! In the Indian tradition, Namaskar, which means I salute the divinity in you. It is always fulfilling to be here at the Annual Central Banking Seminar of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Over the years the seminar has become a landmark forum for the intermingling and cross-fertilisation of ideas and experiences among central bankers from all over the world. It is no wonder, therefore, that it has come to be regarded as a favoured stamping ground where practitioners of the profession rub shoulders and learn from each other about the ‘soiling of the hands’ in topically relevant issues in central banking.

1. Distinguished panellists - Prof. Randall S. Kroszner, Professor, University of Chicago and Former Governor, Federal Reserve Board; Ms. Emmanuelle Assouan, Director General, Financial Stability and Operations, Banque de France; Ms. Sarah Breeden, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability, Bank of England; Dr. Sajjid Chinoy, Managing Director and Chief Economist India, JP Morgan; esteemed delegates and colleagues from the Reserve Bank. A very good afternoon to all of you.

The Context Over the past three and a half decades since the formal adoption of inflation targeting (IT), it has proliferated across continents, regardless of the position of host jurisdictions in the developmental ladder. By the turn of this century, it has been increasingly embraced by emerging market economies (EMEs) so much so that they now outnumber advanced economies (AEs) as practitioners. A unique feature of IT is its operationalisation even before the development of a formal theory2. The journey of IT has been tumultuous, navigating as it has the Great Moderation and ‘once in a century’ shocks such as the global financial crisis (GFC), the COVID-19 pandemic, and persisting geopolitical conflicts that have had a direct bearing on both inflation’s evolution and on financial conditions. Yet, there is no evidence of any major country abandoning it3. On the other hand, central banks have drawn lessons from these humungous challenges and innovated and refined their policy frameworks. The endogenous evolution of IT has rendered it the longest surviving monetary policy framework in modern times.

I feel highly privileged to be here at this High Level Conference on ‘Central Banking at Crossroads’ and share some of my thoughts. When the definitive history of our times is written, the turn of the current decade will, in all probability, be regarded as a watershed in the evolution of central banking. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the persistent geopolitical strife thereafter, central banks are treading in the uncharted terrain of a twilight zone. Today, like never before in the five centuries of their existence, central banks are confronted with a future where their mandates, their functions and their performances are all up for unforgiving scrutiny.

1. Chairpersons and Directors of the Boards of Small Finance Banks; Chief Executive Officers of SFBs; Executive Directors, Chief General Managers and colleagues from the Reserve Bank of India; ladies and gentlemen. A very good morning to all of you. 2. It is an honour to address this distinguished gathering in the inaugural conference of Board of Directors of Small Finance Banks organised by the RBI. As has been mentioned, this conference is in continuation of the Reserve Bank’s efforts to reach out to its supervised entities through a direct dialogue with their Boards and Top Management. Our objective is to reaffirm the importance of good governance for maintaining financial stability and fostering sustainable growth.

1. Regional Director of RBI for Karnataka, Smt. Sonali Sen Gupta; Chief General Manager, NABARD, Shri KVSSLV Prasada Rao; Chief General Manager, Canara Bank and Convenor, SLBC Karnataka, Shri K.J. Shrikanth; Area Heads of Union Bank of India and Bank of Baroda, senior executives from banks; Lead District Managers (LDMs); District Development Managers (DDMs); LDOs and other officers of RBI, present here. Ellarigu Namaskara and a very good morning to all.

I am delighted to have been invited by the Nepal Rashtra Bank (NRB) to deliver the inaugural Himalaya Shumsher Memorial Lecture. I deem it as a privilege. I place on record my appreciation of the Nepal Rashtra Bank for initiating this lecture series in honour of Shri Himalaya Shumsher Rana, the first governor of NRB from1956 to 1961. He contributed immensely to the development of Nepalese monetary and financial systems. His efforts laid the foundation for many of Nepal's key financial institutions and contributed significantly to the country's economic development. Nepal and India have enjoyed a long standing relationship that goes back into history. It is not just a relationship between the two countries, it is also a close people to people relationship. The Nepal Rashtra Bank and the Reserve Bank of India also share a close relationship based on mutual co-operation.

Namaskar! Good morning, I am honoured to be here today. This initiative by the CII – the Summit on Financing 3.0 – is perhaps the first of its kind and assumes timely significance in positioning itself as a beacon of light illuminating India’s leap towards its future. At the outset, therefore, I would like to express my deep appreciation of CII’s role in shaping India’s industrial and business landscape since 1895 as arguably the most visible business association in the country today. It is only befitting that I pay tribute to the CII’s extraordinary contributions by dwelling on our ambitions as a nation and the role of finance in actualising them.

Mr. Alejandro Lopez, President, International Association of Deposit Insurance (IADI), Dr. Eva Hupkes, Secretary General, IADI, Mr. M. Rajeshwar Rao, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), distinguished representatives of the IADI and the Asia Pacific Regional Committee (APRC) Secretariat, chief executive officers (CEOs) and officials of deposit insurance agencies, delegates from central banks, eminent speakers and panellists, invitees representing banks in India, and my colleagues from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), good morning to you all.

Namaskar! Good afternoon I am honoured to be invited to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), a temple of independent India with a rich and hallowed history that predates independence. I thank Madam Sowjanya for her gentle perseverance and deft management of logistics that made it possible for me to be here. I understand that this is the 18^th round of phase IV of the Academy’s mid-career training programme. Participants here have already put in 15 to 18 years in the service of the nation and are, therefore, primed

I am deeply honoured to participate in the 79th meeting of the Executive Council (EXCO) of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI). At the outset, I would like to express my profound appreciation for the IADI as a global standard-setter as well as an international forum for the cross-fertilisation of information and country experiences on practices and techniques relating to deposit insurance. The IADI is contributing significantly to building effective deposit insurance systems across the world, thereby strengthening public confidence in the banking system and ensuring financial stability.