Finance
Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Shaktikanta Das was named “Governor of the Year” at the Central Banking Awards 2023 in London. Central Banking is an international economic research magazine established in London.
Das is the second RBI governor to receive the honor, following Raghuram Rajan in 2015. According to the award’s organizers, Das “cemented critical reforms, oversaw world-leading payments innovation, and guided India through difficult times with a steady hand and well-crafted turn of phrase.”
Das’ tenure, which began in 2018, “has been marked by a series of grave challenges, beginning 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,” according to the organizers.
The Central Banking Awards 2023 organizers discussed the September 2018 collapse of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), which caused a liquidity crisis in the Indian banking system. “A handful of other firms collapsed in the subsequent months, including Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank, which had heavily lent to an infrastructure finance firm that went bust,” they claimed.
The organizers also praised Das for “appearing as a voice of calm amid the fear” during the Covid-19 pandemic. The organizers’ statement also mentioned Das’ hostility to crypto assets in India.
Das is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre who is the RBI’s 25th governor. He has served in many roles for both the central government and the Tamil Nadu government, including economic affairs secretary, revenue secretary, and fertilisers secretary.
Source:BS
