RBI's research wing plans to play growth catalyst to financial sector, policy makers

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India plans to position the Centre for Advanced Financial Research and Learning — or CAFRAL — promoted by it, as a top-rung research institute to cater to policy makers and the financial sector.

The centre, which is headed by former deputy governor of RBI Usha Thorat, will for the first time provide a platform for academics, researchers and practitioners to explore and carry out research on policy and regulatory issues in banking and finance.

Ms Thorat told ETthat besides research reports, the centre plans to conduct workshops, seminars and conferences regularly. The institute will flag off its initiative by hosting a conference with CEOs from commercial banks on May 28 on ‘Business strategy in the emerging regulatory landscape’.

The new research centre hopes to sensitise banks on how to adopt a risk management framework for driving strategy and capital planning by hosting this meeting.

The centre will also partner with the Bank for International Settlements, or BIS, to host a conference in November this year on financial sector regulation and its implications for growth, equity and stability in the post-crisis world. The aim, according to Ms Thorat, is to provide a better perspective on emerging market economies.

For many emerging market economies, the challenges now revolve around maintaining a higher growth in the new regulatory framework. The BIS and CAFRAL meeting will flag off issues which could have an impact on emerging markets in terms of growth and stability.