Part Panglossian, part practical, RBI Guv soldiers on

Mumbai: When taking over the stewardship of the Reserve Bank, taking along everybody and keeping the communication channels open were his key messages.

A year later, Shaktikanta Das can well claim brownie points for keeping the promises as he steers the RBI's efforts to revitalise the financial sector and boost growth that has hit a near-seven-year low.

The career bureaucrat-turned-central banker walked into the 19th floor corner room of the Reserve Bank on December 12, 2018 after his predecessor Urjit Patel suddenly quit following a litany of public spats with the North Bloc mandarins, leaving the relationship between the Mint Street and the government at a nadir.

A historic cash transfer to the government, getting some of the crippled state-run banks out of the RBI radar and putting in place a new NPA framework in June are among the major achievements under Das's watch who completes one-year as the governor on Thursday.

Since February 2019, the Das-led RBI has cut the repo rate by a whopping 135 basis points to support the sagging growth, including an unprecedented 35 bps reduction in August.

The same central bank also massively slashed the growth forecast by a whopping 240 bps in between. Earlier this month, the central bank stunned investors and markets by deciding to hold the rates, if not it would have the sixth straight repo rate cut, which is currently pegged at a nine-year low of 5.15 percent.

Sachin Chaturvedi, a member of the Central Board of RBI, describes Das as a person who brings in pragmatism, commitment, transparency and sincerity to the table. "The governor has in many ways succeeded in getting the government and other functionaries together and has made the board a cohesive platform," Chaturvedi said.

At the six-member Monetary Policy Committee meetings, Das has ensured that every board member makes presentations and then have discussions on the issues raised, he notes. Das, a 1980-batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS servant, had served as the economic affairs secretary, among other roles, before taking charge of the RBI.

From day one, he has ensured that he engaged with all stakeholders. Whether it's banks, NBFCs, MSMEs, industry bodies, foreign investors, credit rating agencies or money market dealers, he has strived to put across to them the views of the RBI-something everybody missed under the Patel era.

Das, also a social media-savvy governor, has been working to allay concerns of stakeholders. "He has been into economic policymaking during the last eight years of his bureaucratic career. Despite not having an economics background (Das is a History honours from St Stephen's), he is not behind the curve," says a person familiar with his working style.