Reserve Bank of India Governor, Shaktikanta Das received an ‘A+’ rating from Global Finance magazine, ranking the top central banker globally for the second year. The recognition acknowledges his adept handling of economic crises, including the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Das was also instrumental in shaping the GST framework and key economic policies. This comes a year after he was named ‘Governor of the Year’ award for how well he handled multiple crises over the last few years. Das has been ranked at the top among three central bank governors who have received an A+ rating. The grades, provided by Global Finance magazine, are based on a scale from A to F, assessing success in inflation control, economic growth goals, currency stability, and interest rate management. An ‘A’ signifies excellent performance, while an ‘F’ denotes outright failure. Christian Kettel Thomsen of Denmark, Shaktikanta Das of India, and Thomas Jordan of Switzerland have all been rated in the A+ category for central bankers.
Shaktikanta Das’ career:
A 1980-batch IAS officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre, Bhubaneswar-born Das played a key role in shaping Tamil Nadu’s successful SEZs and industrial policy. He resisted political pressure to allocate Government land to private IT companies, without a bidding process. Although often viewed as a cautious civil servant, Das was not afraid to make tough decisions, such as dismantling the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to expedite clearances. Das, a seasoned financial bureaucrat, has demonstrated his adaptability by working effectively under three different finance ministers—P. Chidambaram, Pranab Mukherjee, and Arun Jaitley. Known for his non-confrontational approach to problem-solving, Das played a significant role in preparing eight Union budgets. His contributions included four budgets as Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary in the crucial budget division, and two budgets each as Revenue Secretary and Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs.
Before joining the RBI, Das played a crucial role in several key economic decisions after moving to the Finance Ministry in 2008. He was instrumental in negotiating the GST framework, including the five-year compensation plan for States and the constitutional amendment required for its implementation. Das also negotiated with the Swiss Government on tax evader information sharing, showcasing his skills as a key troubleshooter. He was responsible for drafting the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, outlining the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, and formulating laws on overseas black money. While his controversial predecessor at the RBI, Patel, established the MPC framework, Das was the one who implemented it, working on legal amendments and setting the inflation target.
Das, the RBI Governor:
Das was awarded the Governor of the Year 2023 by Central Banking in London. During the ceremony, he emphasized how monetary authorities have expanded their roles in response to unprecedented challenges over recent years. “In recent times, especially since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, central banks — who are at the core of monetary and financial systems — have been called to do ‘heavy lifting’ well beyond their traditional mandate,” Das remarked before accepting the award.
The RBI Governor discussed navigating through three “black swan events” — the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the aggressive monetary policy tightening by global central banks. Central Banking praised Das for his adept handling of these crises. His tenure, which began in December 2018, has been marked by a series of grave challenges, starting with the collapse of a major non-bank firm, moving through the first and second waves of the coronavirus, and then, in 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its inflationary impact. Das began his tenure at the helm of the RBI with a rate-easing cycle starting early 2019 in response to slowing domestic economic growth. Following the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, the RBI undertook a series of measures to shield the economy from the nationwide disruptions in activity. The central bank lowered the repo rate – the rate at which it lends funds to banks – by 115 basis points to a record low of 4%.
