The Reserve Bank has ventured into Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) analytics in multiple areas in order to develop cutting-edge systems for high frequency and real-time data monitoring and analysis, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said today.

In his address at the inauguration of the RBI’s 18th Statistical Day Conference, Governor Das said: “The focus now is naturally on enhancing capacity in AI and ML techniques and analysing unstructured textual data. While doing so, ethical considerations need to be addressed and biases in algorithms need to be eliminated.”

He said that this annual event provides an opportunity to reflect on the current and evolving state of the statistical system. It also helps to take stock of the refinements in the application of statistical methods and technologies in the realm of public policy.

“Looking ahead, the year 2025 has a special significance for the compilation of official statistics the world over. Global efforts are expected to culminate in new global standards for the compilation of macroeconomic statistics, especially for national accounts and balance of payments. Our team in the Reserve Bank is closely tracking these developments,” the RBI Governor said.

The surge in computing power is being increasingly harnessed in combination with statistical methods to improve efficiency in decision-making and enrich end-user experience in various fields of human knowledge, he added,

The celebration of Statistics Day in India coincides with the birth anniversary of Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis whose contributions in laying the foundations of modern-day official statistics in India have been pioneering. Inspired by his work, Indian statisticians are making their presence felt – both domestically and globally in traditional as well as in newer applications of statistics, he added.

Governor Das highlighted the areas in which the Reserve Bank’s cutting-edge information management is contributing to the formulation of public policies and the overall economic development in India.

“One year ago, we launched our next-generation data warehouse, i.e., the Centralised Information Management System (CIMS) at the Statistics Day Conference. Several new features were introduced in the new system. Scheduled commercial banks (SCBs), urban co-operative banks (UCBs) and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) have already been onboarded for reporting on the new portal,” he said.

The new CIMS is also facilitating research on the Indian economy, minimising reporting burden, exploiting the technological advances and improving the experience of both data providers and users, Governor Das added.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

India has moved 100 metric tonnes of its gold stored in the UK to domestic vaults in FY24, sources said today.

This is one of the biggest movements of gold undertaken by the country since 1991, when pledging a substantial part of the gold holding to tide over a foreign exchange crisis resulted in its movement out of India.

The country’s overall gold holding increased 27.46 metric tonnes in FY24 and it stands at 822 metric tonnes, as per official data.

A substantial part of the precious commodity is stored abroad, the sources told Press Trust of India, adding that India also had its holding with the Bank of England like other countries.

The movement of 100 metric tonnes into India has taken the overall quantity stored locally to over 408 metric tonnes of gold, which means the local and foreign holding is now split almost evenly.

As per the annual report of the central bank for FY24 released on Thursday, over 308 metric tonnes of gold is held in India as backing for notes issued, while another 100.28 tonnes is held locally as an asset of the banking department.

Of the overall gold reserves, 413.79 metric tonnes are held abroad, the annual report said.

Sources told Press Trust of India that given the gold buying over the last few years, a call was taken to reduce the holding abroad which is part of the standard review procedures.

In 2009, India had bought 200 tonnes of gold from the International Monetary Fund, after which it has been buying the precious commodity from the secondary market as part of its foreign exchange asset diversification efforts.

Officials from the Ministry of Finance, the RBI and other agencies took care of the movement of gold in complete secrecy given the high value, as per the sources.

At present, the gold held locally is stored at high security vaults and facilities in Mumbai and Nagpur, the sources added.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bengaluru:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday said that it has imposed a penalty of Rs 12 crore 19 lakh on ICICI Bank for violating rules related to the code of conduct for the bank’s directors and for fraud reporting.

The RBI’s inspection reports showed ICICI Bank had sanctioned or committed loans to companies in which two of its directors were also directors, the RBI said in a release.

The bank had also marketed and engaged in the sale of non-financial product and failed to report frauds to the central bank within the prescribed timeline of within three weeks from detection.

The violations were detected during inspections for the financial years ending March 2020 and March 2021, the RBI said.

The central bank separately penalised fellow private lender Kotak Mahindra Bank with a sum of Rs 3.95 crore.

The bank was found to have levied interest on some loans contrary to terms of sanction, failed to carry out an annual review of a service provider and ensure that its customers are not contacted between 7 pm and 7 am as directed by the RBI, inspections showed.

These violations were caught during an inspection for the financial year ending March 2022.

New Delhi:

Private sector lender Bandhan Bank on Tuesday said it has been appointed by Reserve Bank of India as an authorised pension disbursement bank on behalf of the Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO) for the civil pensioners.

The bank will soon be integrating with the office of CPAO, Ministry of Finance, to operationalise the disbursement process, it said in a release.

The authorisation entitles the bank to disburse pensions to the central government employees in civil ministries/departments (other than railways, posts, and defence), National Capital Territory of Delhi, Union Territory Administrations without legislatures, retired judges of the high courts and the Supreme Court and All India Service Officers.

This scheme also covers payment of pensions to former Members of Parliament and the payment of pension and other amenities to former Presidents/Vice Presidents of India, the private sector lender said.