Shaktikanta Das appointed new RBI Governor

Day after Urjit Patel quit from the RBI governor's post citing personal reasons, Shaktikanta Das was appointed as the new RBI Governor on Tuesday. Das has been appointed as the RBI Governor for a period of three years. He will be the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Shaktikanta Das, retired IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, 1980 batch, as Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of three years, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Shri @DasShaktikanta , IAS Retd. (TN: 1980) as Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of three years.

- Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) December 11, 2018

The appointment of Das at the helm of the central bank comes after the sudden resignation of former RBI Governor Urjit Patel on Monday. Although, Patel cited personal reasons behind quitting the top job at the RBI, it has been perceived to be an outcome of the tensions between the government and the apex bank.

Shaktikanta Das had previously served as the secretary of the economic affairs, and is believed to be close to both Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and top officials at the Prime Minister's Office. He has worked closely with the RBI as a member of its board. He is currently a member of the 15th Finance Commission of India, and has represented the country at the G-20 as a Sherpa. It is the job of a G-20 Sherpa to chalk out the details regarding the Development Track before the world leaders meet.

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As an experienced bureaucrat who has worked closely with the government and the RBI, Das is expected to bring an end to the ongoing conflict between these two. Moreover, his appointment as the new RBI governor comes just ahead of the next RBI board meeting, which is scheduled for December 14.

Das was brought into the finance ministry to head the revenue department. He was later moved to the economic affairs department, where he remained till May 2017 and carried out the controversial note ban initiative of the Modi government in 2016.

The new RBI governor, himself, was also the vocal supporter of demonetisation initiative. While he drew flak for his pro-demonetisation stance, Das kept on advocating the move on the grounds that it will help bring back black money into the system, fight against counterfeit money, and boost digital payments. Last year, Das criticised the methodology of global rating agencies, and called for a sovereign rating upgrade.

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