Governor - RBI - Reserve Bank of India
Governor
Shri Shaktikanta Das
Shri Shaktikanta Das, IAS Retd., former Secretary, Department of Revenue and Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India assumed charge as the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India effective December 12, 2018. Immediately prior to his current assignment, he was acting as Member, 15th Finance Commission and G20 Sherpa of India.
Shri Shaktikanta Das has vast experience in various areas of governance in the last 38 years. Shri Das has held important positions in the Central and State Governments in the areas of Finance, Taxation, Industries, Infrastructure, etc.
During his long tenure in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, he was directly associated with the preparation of as many as 8 Union Budgets. Shri Das has also served as India’s Alternate Governor in the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), New Development Bank (NDB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). He has represented India in international fora like the IMF, G20, BRICS, SAARC, etc.
Shri Shaktikanta Das is a postgraduate from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University.
Central Government has re-appointed Shri Shaktikanta Das as Governor, Reserve Bank of India for a further period of three years beyond the 10th day of December 2021, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Contact Information
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Reserve Bank Of india
18th floor, Central Office Building, Shahid Bhagat Singh Road,
Mumbai-400 001 -
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22661784
List of Previous Governors
Dr. Urjit R. Patel
Dr. Urjit R. Patel assumed charge as the twenty-fourth Governor of the Reserve Bank of India effective September 4, 2016 after serving as Deputy Governor since January 2013. He was re-appointed as Deputy Governor on January 11, 2016 after completion of his first three-year term of office. Among his assignments as Deputy Governor, Dr. Patel chaired the Expert Committee to Revise and Strengthen the Monetary Policy Framework. Representing India, he actively participated in steering the signing into force of the inter-governmental treaty and the Inter-Central Bank Agreement (ICBA) among the BRICS nations, which led to the establishment of the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), a swap line framework among the central banks of these countries.
Dr. Patel has also served at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He was on deputation from the IMF to the Reserve Bank during 1996-1997, and in that capacity he provided advice on development of the debt market, banking sector reforms, pension fund reforms, and evolution of the foreign exchange market. He was a Consultant to the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs), Government of India, from 1998 to 2001. He has also had other assignments in the public and private sectors.
Dr. Patel has worked closely with several central and state government high level committees, including the Task Force on Direct Taxes (Kelkar Committee), the High Level Expert Group for Reviewing the Civil & Defence Services Pension System, the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Infrastructure, the Group of Ministers on Telecom Matters, the Committee on Civil Aviation Reforms and the Ministry of Power’s Expert Group on State Electricity Boards.
Dr. Patel has several publications in the areas of Indian macroeconomics, monetary policy, public finance, the Indian financial sector, international trade, and regulatory economics.
Dr. Patel has a Ph.D in economics from Yale University, an M. Phil from University of Oxford and a B. Sc. from the University of London.
Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan
Dr. Raghuram Rajan assumed charge as the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on September 4, 2013. Prior to this, he was the Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Government of India and the Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago's Booth School. Between 2003 and 2006, Dr. Rajan was the Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund.
Dr. Rajan's research interests are in banking, corporate finance, and economic development, especially the role finance plays in it. He has co-authored Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists with Luigi Zingales in 2003. He then wrote Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy, for which he was awarded the Financial Times-Goldman Sachs prize for best business book in 2010.
Dr. Rajan is a member of the Group of Thirty. He was the President of the American Finance Association in 2011 and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In January 2003, the American Finance Association awarded Dr. Rajan the inaugural Fischer Black Prize for the best finance researcher under the age of 40. The other awards he has received include the global Indian of the year award from NASSCOM in 2011, the Infosys prize for the Economic Sciences in 2012, and the Center for Financial Studies-Deutsche Bank Prize for financial economics in 2013.
Born on February 3, 1963, Dr. Rajan is married to Radhika and has two children.
Dr. D. Subbarao
Dr. D. Subbarao took over on September 5, 2008 as the 22nd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Dr. Subbarao has been appointed for a three-year term. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Subbarao was the Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
Dr. Subbarao has earlier been Secretary to the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (2005-2007), lead economist in the World Bank (1999-2004), Finance Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh (1993-98) and Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India (1988-1993).
Dr. Subbarao has wide experience in public finance. In the World Bank, he worked on issues of public finance in countries of Africa and East Asia. He managed a flagship study on decentralisation across major countries of East Asia including China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and Cambodia. Dr. Subbarao was also involved in initiation of fiscal reforms at the state level. Dr. Subbarao has written extensively on issues in public finance, decentralisation and political economy of reforms.
Born on August 11, 1949, Dr. Subbarao holds a B.Sc (Hons) in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and M.Sc in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Dr. Subbarao also holds an MS degree in Economics from Ohio State University. He was a Humphrey fellow at MIT during 1982-83. He has a Ph.D. in Economics with thesis on fiscal reforms at the sub-national level. Dr. Subbarao was a topper in the All India Civil Service examination for entry into Indian Administrative Services and Indian Foreign Services in 1972. He was one of the first IITians to join the civil service.
Dr. Y.V. Reddy
Dr. Yaga Venugopal Reddy the twenty-first Governor, is a member of the Indian Administrative Service. He has spent most of his career in the areas of finance and planning. He served as Secretary (Banking) in Ministry of Finance, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Joint Secretary in Ministry of Finance in Government of India, Principal Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh and had a a six year tenure as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Prior to his appointment as the Governor, Dr. Reddy was India's Executive Director on the Board of the International Monetary Fund.
Dr. Reddy has made significant policy contributions in the areas of financial sector reforms; trade finance; monitoring of balance of payments and exchange rate; external commercial borrowings; centre-state financial relations; regional planning; and public enterprise reform and has been closely associated with institution building. He has several publications to his credit mainly in areas relating to finance, planning and public enterprises.
Dr. Bimal Jalan
Dr.Bimal Jalan was the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from November 22, 1997 to Septemeber 6, 2003. Initially appointed as Governor, for a term of three years, Dr. Jalan was re-appointed as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, first for a period of two years commencing November 22, 2000 to November 21, 2002 and again for a further period of two years commencing November 22, 2002 and ending November 21, 2004. He was nominated as Rajya Sabha member on August 27, 2003 and relinquished office as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on September 6, 2003.
An economist by profession. Dr. Jalan has held several administrative and advisory positions in the Government of India. He was the Chief Economic Adviser to the Union Government in the 1980s, Banking Secretary between 1985 and 1989 and Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. As Finance Secretary, he was also on the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India. He has also been the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister between January 1991 and September 1992. Dr. Jalan has served as the Executive Director representing India on the Boards of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. At the time of his appointment as the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Dr. Jalan was the Member-Secretary, Planning Commission in New Delhi.
Born in 1941, Dr. Jalan is educated in the Presidency College, Calcutta, Cambridge and Oxford Universities. Dr. Jalan has authored India's Economic Crisis: The Way Ahead(Oxford University Press, 1991) and edited The Indian Economy: Problems and Prospects(Penguin, 1993). His latest book India's Economic Policy: Preparing for the Twenty-first Century(Viking, 1996) examines some of the critical policy choices for India at the present juncture.
Speeches
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I am happy to inaugurate the eighteenth Statistics Day Conference of the Reserve Bank. This annual event provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the current and evolving state of statistical system. It also helps us to take stock of the refinements in application of statistical methods and technologies in the realm of public policy.
I am delighted to be here to inaugurate the second edition of the global conference on financial resilience organised by the College of Supervisors (CoS) of the Reserve Bank of India. The first edition of the conference was held last year in April and I had participated in the same. Since its establishment in the year 2020, the CoS has made significant contributions to strengthen supervisory capacity of not just the Reserve Bank, but also the supervisors from a few other countries who have participated in the various programmes3 organised by the college. My compliments to the Team CoS for their dedication in successfully carrying forward the objectives of the organisation.
Media Interactions
Key Releases
Kautilya in his Arthashastra more than two thousand years ago, had said: “stability enables a state not only to share its wealth equitably but also augment it”.1 These words are relevant even today. In fact, they have eternal validity. Macroeconomic stability and inclusive growth are the fundamental principles underlying a country’s progress. The policy mix that we have pursued during the recent years of multiple and unparalleled shocks has fostered macroeconomic and financial stability. The external sector also remains eminently manageable. The twin balance sheet stress that was encountered a decade ago has now been replaced by a twin balance sheet advantage with healthier balance sheets of both banks and corporates. India is poised to become the new growth engine of the world.
2. The need of the hour is to remain vigilant and not give room to complacency. Lessons from the past one and a half decades and from living through the global financial crisis and the taper tantrum tell us that risks and vulnerabilities can grow even in good times. All stakeholders in the economy, be it lenders, corporates, businesses – small and big – and even policymakers should continue to reinforce their buffers and fundamentals in the fast changing world that we live in. So far as the Reserve Bank is concerned, we have identified high inflation as a major risk to macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth. Accordingly, our monetary policy remains resolutely focused on aligning inflation to the 4 per cent target on a durable basis.
Decisions and Deliberation of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)
3. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met on 4th, 5th and 6th October 2023. After a detailed assessment of the evolving macroeconomic and financial developments and the outlook, it decided unanimously to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.50 per cent. Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate remains at 6.25 per cent and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.75 per cent. The MPC also decided by a majority of 5 out of 6 members to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation progressively aligns to the target, while supporting growth.
4. I shall now briefly set out the MPC’s rationale for these decisions on the policy rate and the stance. Headline inflation had surged in July driven by tomato and other vegetable prices. It corrected partly in August and is expected to see further easing in September on the back of moderation in these prices. A silver lining amidst all these is declining core inflation (i.e., CPI excluding food and fuel). The overall inflation outlook, however, is clouded by uncertainties from the fall in kharif sowing for key crops like pulses and oilseeds, low reservoir levels, and volatile global food and energy prices. The MPC observed that the recurring incidence of large and overlapping food price shocks can impart generalisation and persistence to headline inflation. Economic activity, on the other hand, has remained resilient. Taking into account the evolving inflation-growth dynamics and the cumulative policy repo rate hike of 250 basis points which is still working through the economy, the MPC decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.50 per cent in this meeting. The transmission of the 250 basis points (bps) increase in the policy repo rate to bank lending and deposit rates is still incomplete and hence the MPC decided to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation.2 The MPC remains highly alert and prepared to undertake timely policy measures, as may be necessary, in order to align inflation to the target and anchor inflation expectations.
Monetary Policy
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