Reserve Bank of India (RBI) New Governor Sanjay Malhotra will take charge of RBI for three years from December 11. He will replace Shaktikanta Das. He is going to take charge of the central bank at a time when the pace of the Indian economy has slowed down and the common people are facing the brunt of skyrocketing inflation. Malhotra will have to overcome both these big challenges. Das did not change the repo rate for almost two years to control inflation but it did not achieve much success. Retail inflation rose to a 14-month high of 6.21 percent in October. Not only this, the pace of growth has also slowed down. GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate declined to the lowest level in seven quarters at 5.4 percent in July-September.
Prefer to work as a ‘team’
Sanjay Malhotra is said to work as a ‘team’. He believes that prices cannot be managed by the central bank alone and government help is also required for this task. He takes over as the 26th Governor of the central bank at a time when the RBI is under pressure to cut key interest rate repo rates to support economic growth.
Pressure from government to reduce interest rates
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal have advocated interest rate cuts in recent days. This is because high interest costs are hurting the economy. Due to this, there is also pressure on RBI to cut the policy rate. Malhotra is believed to have good relations with the Finance Minister. This can be helpful in aligning monetary and fiscal policies with the needs of the economy.
Has played an important role in implementing the new income tax system. Malhotra, 56, a computer science graduate and a master’s degree in public policy from Princeton University, is currently the revenue secretary in the finance ministry and Das’s second three-year term ends on December 10. Malhotra has over three decades of experience in public policy with expertise in areas such as power, finance and taxation.
Malhotra is a resident of Rajasthan
Malhotra, who hails from Rajasthan, is a 1990 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the same state cadre. Malhotra, a computer science graduate from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur and a master’s degree in public policy from Princeton University in the US, worked in various departments in his home state before joining the Centre. He joined the Center in 2000 as Private Secretary to the Union Minister. He moved back to Rajasthan in 2003 and worked in the Mines and Minerals, Information and Broadcasting, Finance, Energy and Commercial Taxation departments. He returned to the Center in 2020 as Additional Secretary in the Union Ministry of Power.
He also served as Chairman and Managing Director of REC under the Ministry of Power for more than a year. He was then appointed Secretary in the Department of Financial Services in the Union Finance Ministry in February, 2022. He also served as a representative on the RBI Board of Directors. He became the Revenue Secretary in December, 2022. Implementation of the new income tax system is his achievement.
Will he be able to perform a miracle like Shaktikanta Das?
During his six-year tenure as RBI Governor, Shaktikanta Das tried to efficiently guide the country’s monetary policy during the challenging times of the Covid pandemic and also to strike a proper balance between economic growth and inflation. Das, who will complete his tenure as RBI Governor on Tuesday, had earlier played a key role in planning and implementing the demonetisation drive and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Tuesday is the last day of his tenure. Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra has been appointed as the new Governor in his place. In such a situation, the big question is whether Sanjay Malhotra will be able to perform a miracle like Das.
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