Ahead of the RBI MPC decision on Thursday, the State Bank of India’s research department published a humorous study, which revealed that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governors with short height have proven to be more efficient than their taller counterparts
The SBI Research study, led by economist Soumya Kanti Ghosh, published a humorous sidenote showing that the shorter central bank Governors have been more effective in controlling inflation or growth and facing macro headwinds than their taller counterparts
For the purpose of the light-hearted study, SBI Research evaluated the term of RBI Governors in the last 2 decades based on four major factors - growth to nominal GDP, control in inflation, adverse global economic environment, and the number of crisis faced (none/single/poly). The overall performance score was equal to the product of the score earned in each of the four factors
In the study, the tallest RBI Governor in recent times, 6-foot 1-inch tall Raghuram Rajan, scored a relatively low 85.6 overall on SBI’s index based on the four parameters. Rajan hiked interest rates by 75 basis points in his tenure, before slashing them 150 bps during his tenure
Meanwhile, current RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, who is just 5-foot 6-inches tall, scored the highest at 108.1 on SBI’s index. Das’ era has seen a steep rate cut of 250 bps and a rate hike of another 250 bps during his term. This has made him the best-performing RBI Governor among his peers at a 108.1 performance score, as per SBI’s research
Shaktikanta Das’ steady leadership came during challenging and unprecedented times, including the collapse of a major non-bank firm, the first and second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the inflationary impact arising from the Russia-Ukraine War
In the SBI Research study, 5-foot-5-inch tall YV Reddy scored 100.4 overall on the SBI index. He increased rates by 300 basis points in his tenure. Meanwhile, 5-foot 8-inch tall Urjit Patel was not scored as he resigned early and did not complete his term
Former RBI Governor, the 5-foot 9-inches tall Dr Subbarao scored lowest, falling below the performance score of 50. This was mainly because of the extremely high inflation during his term, SBI noted in its research
The report clearly stated that in the author's own view, this study should be seen in a lighter vein, and is not meant to be taken as a substantive finding of any sort. “We do not actually believe that performance is determined by the height of the RBI Governor, but it is an interesting coincidence, shared on a humorous note,” said SBI Research