New Delhi:
Shaktikanta Das will demit office today after completing six years as the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He was appointed as the Governor on December 12, 2018, after the abrupt exit of Urjit Patel.
Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra will replace him as the 26th Governor.
“Will demit office as Governor RBI later today. Thank you everyone for your support and good wishes,” Das posted on social media platform X on Tuesday.
He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for their support during his tenure.
“Immensely grateful to the Hon’ble PM @narendramodi for giving me this opportunity to serve the country as Governor RBI and for his guidance and encouragement. Benefited a lot from his ideas and thoughts,” the post added.
“Heartfelt thanks to Hon’ble FM @nsitharaman for her constant support and backing. The fiscal-monetary coordination was at its best and helped us to deal with the multiple challenges during the last six years.”
Acknowledged Stakeholders
Das also said, “I thank all the stakeholders in the financial sector and in the economy; experts and economists; industry bodies and associations; organisations in the agriculture, cooperative & service sectors for their inputs and policy suggestions.”
Special Mention of RBI Team
Das also appreciated the role of the RBI team.
“A BIG thank you to the entire Team RBI. Together, we successfully navigated an exceptionally difficult period of unprecedented global shocks. May the RBI grow even taller as an institution of trust and credibility. My best wishes to each one of you.”
Shaktikanta Das: Journey
Das has been twice ranked as the top central banker by the US-based Global Finance magazine.
He chaired his last meeting of the rate-setting panel — Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) — last week.
Soon after taking charge of the Mint Street office, he provided confidence to the market shaken by the sudden resignation of Patel amid a tussle between RBI and the government over the issue of surplus transfer.
He not only assuaged the concerns of the market but deftly sorted out issues related to surplus transfer to the government.
Barely a year after Das took charge as the RBI governor, Covid hit the world. As a key economic policymaker, Das faced challenging times in managing the disruptions caused by the lockdown. He chose to cut the policy repo rate to a historic low of 4 per cent, continuing with the low-interest rate regime for almost two years to help the economy hit badly by lockdowns.
With the revival of the economy hit by COVID-19, the Das-headed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was quick to raise interest rates starting May 2022 to avoid overheating the economy and keep inflation under check.
His deft handling of difficult monetary situations, checking inflation and boosting growth earned him re-appointment. The government extended his tenure for another three years in 2021.
Das was instrumental in ensuring that economic growth remains over 7 per cent in the last 4 years of his six-year term.
His governance has always been in sync with what the Narendra Modi government wanted in an RBI chief after the successive stints of Raghuram Rajan and Urjit Patel, which were marred by constant conflicts between the RBI and the North Block, the home to the Ministry of Finance.
Not once since he took over did the issue of the RBI autonomy come up in news headlines. Das has been articulate and approachable to his colleagues and the media, and a consensus man who kept the communication channels alive with the bosses in Delhi.
Earlier this year, the central bank handed over the highest-ever dividend of Rs 2.11 lakh crore.
Before joining the RBI, he spearheaded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2016 demonetisation drive while then RBI Governor Urjit Patel took a backseat through the whole process.
The stability of the financial system was a key agenda, Das kept a close watch overheating in some segments as well as errant players and taking pre-emptive action wherever required.
Das, a 1980 batch IAS officer, served as the Secretary of the Department of Revenue and Department of Economic Affairs. Post-retirement, he was appointed as a Member of the 15th Finance Commission and G20 Sherpa of India.
Das has vast experience in various areas of governance in the last 38 years. He has held important positions in the central and state governments in the areas of Finance, Taxation, Industries, and Infrastructure, among others.
During his long tenure in the Ministry of Finance, he was directly associated with the preparation of as many as eight Union Budgets.
Das is a postgraduate from St Stephen’s College, Delhi University.
