RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das Meets FM Sitharaman Days Before Tenure Expiry: Report

Citing sources, the report said that Das called on the finance minister ahead of the upcoming expiry of his extended tenure. He was initially appointed the 25th RBI governor on December 12, 2018

Due to his three-year extension granted to Das, he is already one of the longest serving RBI governors in the banking regulator’s 90-year history.

Source : PTI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das met with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday. The meeting came just ahead of the expiry of the governor’s extended term. Das’s three-year stint as the head of the central bank ends on December 10, 2024.

Typically, governors serve a two-year term at the RBI, however, Das’ tenure was extended by the government in 2021. A month ahead of this term end, the officials announced a three-year extension to his tenure, reported PTI.

Citing sources, the report said that Das called on the finance minister ahead of the upcoming expiry of his extended tenure. Das was initially appointed the 25th RBI governor on December 12, 2018. He came in to the role following the sudden exit of Urjit Patel.

Due to his three-year extension granted to Das, he is already one of the longest serving RBI governors in the banking regulator’s 90-year history.

Before this, the central bank announced the fiscal policy at the end of its bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. The committee chair, Governor Shaktikanta Das, revealed the panel’s decision to maintain the status quo on key rates and keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent.

The MPC also announced a reduction in the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points to 4 per cent. This marked the 11th consecutive time the panel decided to keep rates unchanged. Meanwhile, the central bank continued to keep a ‘neutral’ stance on the economy. This outlook was attributed to the GDP growth data which remained below expectations in the September quarter. 

The panel also hiked the retail inflation estimate for the 2024-25 fiscal year (FY25) to 4.8 per cent, as compared to the earlier projection of 4.5 per cent.