Central banking and innovation - partners in the quest for financial inclusion

Speech by Mr Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the BIS, at the Reserve Bank of India, C D Deshmukh Memorial Lecture, Mumbai, 25 April 2019.

Central banks and financial authorities can promote financial inclusion by pursuing their core objectives. By watching over price stability, they ensure that money keeps its value. By ensuring financial stability, they prevent financial institutions from failing and taking people's savings with them. And, by delivering on these objectives, they reinforce trust in the financial system. Still, achieving financial inclusion requires other elements as well. Innovation can play a crucial role in breaking down barriers to inclusion, for citizens and financial institutions alike. Policymakers can catalyse and shape innovation by providing infrastructure and utilities, as well as rules and guidelines. Central banks and innovators should work together to further financial inclusion.