Rama Krishna Sangem
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das was awarded the “Governor of the Year” at the Central Banking Awards 2023 in London. Central Banking is a London-based international economic research journal.
Within India some of his decisions like withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes maybe controversial, but abroad Das is praised for handling inflation and rates hike well and keeping India a preferred destination for foreign investments.
Das is the second RBI governor to receive the award after Raghuram Rajan, who was given the title in 2015. Das “cemented critical reforms, overseen world-leading payments innovation, and steered India through difficult times with a steady hand and well-crafted turn of phrase”, the organisers of the award said.
“Das handled crises well”
The organisers added that Das’ tenure which began in 2018, “has been marked by a series of grave challenges, starting with the collapse of a major non-banking firm, moving through the first and second waves of the coronavirus, and then, in 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its inflationary impact”.
The organisers of the Central Banking Awards 2023 spoke about the collapse of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) in September 2018 which led to a liquidity crunch in the Indian banking system. “A handful of other firms collapsed in the subsequent months, including Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank, which had lent heavily to an infrastructure finance firm that went bust,” they said.
Das was also credited for “appearing as a voice of calm amid the fear” during the Covid-19 pandemic by the organisers. The statement by the organisers also talked about Das’ opposition to crypto assets in India.
Das is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, who is currently serving as the 25th governor of the RBI. He has worked for both the central government and the Tamil Nadu government in several capacities, such as the economic affairs secretary, the revenue secretary, and fertilisers’ secretary.
