Speeches & Media Interactions

1. Distinguished Guests, Deputy Governor Dr Michael D Patra, Deputy Governor Shri M R Rao, Board of Directors of DICGC, colleagues from DICGC and RBI, ladies, and gentlemen. A very good morning to all of you. 2. It is, indeed, an honour to address this distinguished gathering of global deposit insurers. Deposit insurers, as vital pillars of the financial safety-net system, play a crucial role in bolstering public confidence in the banking sector and fostering overall financial stability. My compliments to the organizers of this Conference—the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI), which has excelled as a global standard-setter, the Asia Pacific Regional Committee (APRC), and the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC)—for their exemplary efforts in bringing this event to fruition.

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.

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, At the outset, let me thank the organisers for inviting me to deliver this address and convey my thoughts at this prestigious event. We, as central bankers, interact with various stakeholders on different occasions and diverse gatherings like this provide us an opportunity to reflect on issues which straddle not just the world of finance but also impinges on wider scheme of things. The idea is to flag issues which have wider ramifications beyond the conventional financial risks. Therefore, while I would dwell upon the Indian financial outlook, I would like to avail of this opportunity also to discuss on the issue of climate change and the role of financial entities in the transition process towards a more sustainable growth.

Ladies and gentlemen, a very good morning, I am happy to be here this morning and engage with you at this forum. Keeping in view the theme of the event, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss a few issues around the risk, compliance and internal audit, collectively known as assurance functions, as they help identify and manage risks for sustainable growth of financial entities. From a regulatory and supervisory perspective too, Reserve Bank attaches utmost important to the assurance function and therefore, to ensure that there is alignment between our perspectives and to communicate our expectations, we feel a continuing dialogue on this issue is extremely important.

I am happy to be back at the Financial Express Modern BFSI Summit. I remember having participated in the June 2022 edition of this summit where I had spoken on ‘Disruptions & Opportunities in the Financial Sector’. The macroeconomic conditions back then were very different and challenging to say the least, as we were grappling with overlapping shocks from the war in Ukraine and the surge in inflation at a time when the world was still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, we have come a long way. Amidst global challenges and uncertainties, India stands out as a fast growing major economy with stronger macroeconomic fundamentals and a healthy and resilient financial sector.