Shaktikanta Das and his six years as RBI Guv: Steering RBI in times of despair and optimism

Kolkata: Shaktikanta Das, awarded as world's best central banker for the last two years, will be demitting office Tuesday, after a six years of monetary policy making which saw once-in-a-life-time event like Covid and other global headwinds such as the Ukraine war or Middle east crisis.

Das was the man who the government relied on for the high job when his predecessor Urjit Patel abruptly stepped down in December 2018 after his equations turned sour with the North Block on the issue of central bank's autonomy. Das's tenure was rather smooth on this count except the last few months when he had to steadfastly counter the pressure to ease rates, coming directly from Delhi after the growth-inflation dynamics unsettled since the October policy.

The central bank kept the repo rate unchanged in the December policy, for the 11th time in a row, at a time when inflation prints was at 14month high at 6.2% for October while the country's GDP hit a seven-quarter low of 5.4% for the July-September period.


The government named revenue secretary Sanjay Malhotra to succeed Das, who's second three-year term will end on December 10. He is also known for the significant role he played as economic affairs secretary when the government scrapped high-value currency notes in November 2016.

"In the last few years, we have traversed one of the most difficult periods in the history of the Indian economy, and perhaps, in the global economy also. It was a period of relentless turbulence and jolts," Das said a couple of days back while presenting the monetary policy for the last time as Reserve Bank of India governor.

"As a country, we can derive satisfaction that the Indian economy has not just navigated this period of trials successfully but also emerged stronger," he said.

During his tenure, India became the fastest growing economy, coming out of the woods after Covid, helped by strong macro-economic fundamentals. The central bank dished out various regulatory relaxations to support the economy during the most trying times. Under his stewardship, India's foreign excgange reserves gew to a high of $704 billion, the rupee remained the least volatile and strongest among Asian peers despite the record dollar outflows during the last two months of his tenure.

He focused on maintaining financial stability, made the 4% inflation target a non-negotiable goal. He took measures to maintain the balance in inter-bank liquidity.

"Persistent high inflation reduces the purchasing power of consumers and adversely affects both consumption and investment demand. The overall implication of these factors for growth is negative. Therefore, price stability is essential for sustained growth," he said. Economic growth remains over 7 per cent in the last 4 years of his six-year term.

One of the major highlights of his tenure was strengthening the regulatory framework for banks and non-banking financial companies. He did not hesitate to take stern action if the regulated entities did not fall in line. He is credited for bring a strong complaince culture among the regulated entities.

"The world today is characterised by intricate complexities and profound uncertainties. As a central bank, our job is that of an anchor of stability and confidence, which would ensure that the economy achieves sustained high growth," Das said.

He has been ranked the top central banker by the US-based Global Finance magazine. Das, a 1980-batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer, has master's degree in history from Delhi's St Stephen's College as also a postgraduate in public administration from the University of Birmingham.