RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das showed his witty side on Wednesday when asked by a reporter on taunts faced by him being a central bank governor despite completing post-graduaton in history. Das, speaking at a summit hosted by a media house, questioned if Argentinian football legend Lionel Messi was also a post-graduate in history.
Das made the remark when the reporter compared his position to an opponent facing Messi at a football arena in Qatar, which recently hosted the FIFA World Cup.
"Don't mind it, but was Messi also a post-graduate in history? Not often, but I am sometimes reminded by people that I am supposed to have done history," PTI quoted Das as saying.
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Das completed his master's degree in history from Delhi University's St Stephen's College. He was made the RBI Governor after the sudden exit of Urjit Patel in December 2018.
Das, the first non-economist governor of the RBI in 28 years, is helming the RBI amid crises like the Covid pandemic and the inflation surge following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Since his appointment in 2018, several critics and netizens have pointed out Das' academic record as a history graduate. His backers, however, have pointed out his long stint in the Finance Ministry at high positions, including as economic affairs secretary and India's G-20 sherpa.
During the interview, Das also reminisced briefly about his student life in New Delhi, mentioning how a DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation) bus route number helped him remember complex numbers on lending rate growth in the system.
Das admitted that it was very difficult to remember numbers like the lending rate hikes of 117 basis points (bps) in the system, but "visualizing" about the bus route number has helped him.
"The lending rates have gone up by about 117 bps. I remember 117 because in my student days, they had a DTC bus with that number 117," PTI quoted Das as saying.