In these turbulent times, the Centre’s timely decision to give RBI Governor Dr Subbarao a two-year extension stands apart as a decisive vote for stability at the central bank. This will strengthen the RBI to pursue the right course it has been following in different areas of its responsibility. A change of guard at this juncture would have resulted in slowing the processes of change in areas like fighting inflation, forex reserves management, financial inclusion and outreach, and transparency in policy prescriptions where Dr Subbarao has made perceptible progress. On his part, the governor should take this opportunity to hasten the initiatives he has taken to make RBI a change agent in the country’s economic development. Beyond the mandated responsibilities, one expects RBI to do much more in the areas of financial inclusion, gold and wealth management (as part of its forex reserve management), revival of grass-roots rural financial institutions like co-operatives, and balanced economic development across regions by ensuring an appropriate realignment of the outreach of institutional infrastructure using financial sector reforms as a tool.
M G Warrier, Mumbai
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