FinMin-RBI ties the best in my stint with excellent cooperation: Das

Outgoing Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday said he gave his best to the institution, and asserted that ties between Mint Road and the finance ministry were "the best" in his six-year stint.

Speaking to reporters on the last day of his term, Das said the "perspectives" of the central bank and the finance ministry can be different on many issues and the phenomenon is seen the world over. 

 

"...in my tenure, I think we have been able to resolve all such issues through internal discussions," Das, the career bureaucrat-turned-central banker, said.

"The relationship between the government, and the finance ministry in particular, and the Reserve Bank of India... I think they have been at their best. We had excellent cooperation, excellent coordination," Das added.

Das, who had served as the secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs and also worked closely on demonetisation in 2016, was appointed as the RBI Governor in 2018 following the sudden resignation of Urjit Patel.

Under Patel, the ties between the finance ministry and the RBI had touched a new low, after the government invoked a sparingly used statute which undermines the autonomy of the central bank.

Das said whenever a governor assumes office, he looks at things with a "wider economy" perspective, which includes what is the best for the central bank given its mandate and how he or she shall fulfil the mandate.

"It is your responsibility, it is your mandate ...because you are occupying a particular position. Plus, (there are) the requirements of the wider economy. I think it's a synthesis of both and eventually it's a judgment call of which every governor takes," he said.

Das recalled from the statement made in December 2018 on assuming charge as governor, and added that he has worked as per the areas of focus which he had outlined then.

"I had said the Reserve Bank is a great institution with a rich legacy. I had also said that I will do everything to uphold the professionalism, core values, credibility and autonomy of the Reserve Bank," he said on Tuesday.

When asked about his future moves, and if he will come back to hold some public office, Das, 67, said he does not have a specific plan as of now and will mull his future moves later.

There was speculation on whether Das gets another extension which would have made him the longest serving governor of the central bank. However, in a move that came as a surprise to many watchers, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra, another career bureaucrat, was appointed to helm the RBI.

Governor Das sent out a series of messages on the microblogging site 'X' before opting for the interaction with the journalists. He spent the remainder of the day at his office at the central bank headquarters meeting staffers, while arrangements for a virtual address to RBI staffers have also been made.