RBI Governor
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the central bank of India, responsible for economic and financial stability in the country. The head of RBI is referred to as the Governor, who is appointed by the Government of India for a period of four years. The current Governor of RBI is Shaktikanta Das, who took office on 12th December 2018.
Responsibilities
The primary responsibility vested in the Governor’s office includes formulating and implementing monetary policy with an aim to maintain price stability and ensure adequate flow credit to productive sectors. Additional responsibilities include maintaining foreign exchange reserves and overseeing banking operations across India including issuing licenses to new banks or merging existing ones.
Powers
The powers vested with RBI are extensive but can be broadly classified into two categories – administrative powers and monetary policy making powers:
Administrative Powers: These include supervision over commercial banks, maintenance of foreign exchange reserve levels, setting up infrastructure such as ATM networks etc., regulating consumer protection rules etc., Monetary Policy Making Powers: This involves setting interest rates that influence lending rates in various markets like home loans, corporate bonds etc., as well as influencing liquidity through open market operations or other tools available at its disposal.
