Shaktikanta Das bids farewell as RBI governor; thanks PM and FM

As the six-year tenure of former RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, the 25th RBI Governor who is set to demit office today, comes to an end, he thanked everyone for their support and good wishes.

Das thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing him to lead the central bank. "Immensely grateful to the Hon’ble PM @narendramodi for giving me this opportunity to serve the country as Governor RBI and for his guidance and encouragement. Benefited a lot from his ideas and thoughts."

Das also thanked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for her support. "Heartfelt thanks to Hon’ble FM @nsitharaman for her constant support and backing. The fiscal-monetary coordination was at its best and helped us to deal with the multiple challenges during the last six years."

Das also thanked all the stakeholders in the financial sector and in the economy; experts and economists; industry bodies and associations; organisations in the agriculture,cooperative & service sectors for their inputs and policy suggestions.

"A BIG thank you to the entire Team RBI. Together, we successfully navigated an exceptionally difficult period of unprecedented global shocks. May the RBI grow even taller as an institution of trust and credibility. My best wishes to each one of you."

Shaktikanta Das, an IAS officer, and former secretary at the Departments of Revenue and Economic Affairs, had assumed charge as the 25th governor of the RBI on December 12, 2018. His tenure was extended by three more years in 2021 amid the COVID-19 crisis, making him the fifth RBI governor to get tenure this long so far.

The appointments committee of the Cabinet on Monday approved the appointment of Sanjay Malhotra, who's a 1990 batch IAS officer and currently serving as Secretary of the Department of Revenue, as the 26th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for three years, effective from December 11, 2024.

For the second time in a row this year, Shaktikanta Das received an 'A+' rating and was ranked among the top three central bankers in the Global Finance Central Banker Report Card 2024 by U.S.-based Global Finance magazine. In March 2023, Das was also named the 'Governor of the Year' for 2023 by Central Banking, another international economic research journal. Shaktikanta Das was the second RBI governor after Raghuram Rajan to have won the 'Governor of the Year' award.