IT and staff quality seen as key as India adopts Basel II

CALCUTTA, INDIA - The need to improve staff quality and use information technology (IT) effectively are among key targets for the Indian banking system as it prepares to meet intern ational standards of risk-based regulation, India’s central bank chief told a banking economists’ conference in January.

Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan said progress had been made in assessing the Indian financial system against international best practices and in benchmarking the future direction of change.

But "there is also a sense that we have a lot to acquire and adapt in terms of the technical expertise necessary to measure and manage risks better," he said.

The "calibration" of the convergence with international standards is conditioned by the specific realities of India’s situation, Jalan