Malhotra to succeed Das as RBI governor

IN THE HOT SEAT

- PRIYANSH VERMA

THE GOVERNMENT ON Monday appointed Union revenue secretary Sanjay Malhotra as the 26th governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a three-year term starting December 11. The announcement by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet came just a day before incumbent Shaktikanta Das' extended six-year term was to end.

It also coincided with a global situation, where lingering core inflation is complicating the efforts of the central banks towards balancing growth and inflation risks, and came close on the heels of China's top leaders signalling, for the first time since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008-09, an easing of monetary policy in 2025.

Malhotra, a 1990-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, will assume charge in the backdrop of the RBI keeping the benchmark repo rate unchanged at 6.5% for an eleventh time in a row, in last week's monetary policy. The RBI had stuck to its ground despite calls for a rate cut from several quarters, including top government functionaries.

While the growth in gross domestic product (GDP) plunged to a sevenquarter low of 5.4% in the second quarter of the current fiscal and demand looked weak, the RBI maintained its "neutral" stance. It said "credible evidence" was needed on the outlook for inflation, which it seeks to align with the 4% target on a durable basis.