Shaktikanta Das replaced Urjit Patel who abruptly resigned amid a face-off with the government over issues related to governance and autonomy of the central bank
New Delhi: Former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday took charge as the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He addressed a press conference soon after in Mumbai.
He replaced Urjit Patel who abruptly resigned amid a face-off with the government over issues related to governance and autonomy of the central bank.
In the press conference, Das lauded the RBI for its rich and long legacy. He said, “I have interacted at various levels with the officials of the RBI over the last ten or more years. The interaction has been not only at the senior levels but at the middle level and down the line. There were situations I was leading delegations from the government of India which included officers from the RBI. I always found they possess inherent core competence and professionalism to deal with any technical issue – monetary aspects or currency management or any other aspect related to functioning of the central bank”.
Speaking about the issues that lie ahead, he said, “As you would know after the amendment of the RBI Act, inflation targeting continues to be very important. It is very heartening to know inflation is broadly as per target and inflation outlook looks fairly benign at this stage but we have to watchful of developments. The issue of health of PSBs is an important issue as I have already mentioned.
The issue of liquidity also comes up in the media and public space from time to time. That will be an area where one has to interact with stakeholders and get an internal feedback and then take a view on these issues. The maintenance of growth trajectory of the Indian economy is also important”.
The new RBI governor confirmed that the central meeting scheduled for November 14 will be held as planned.
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