Shaktikanta Das posts farewell message on X as he demits RBI office today: 'Institution of trust and credibility'

Shaktikanta Das, the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will demit office today, marking the end of a six-year tenure that spanned some of the most challenging periods in the Indian and global economy.

In a heartfelt post on X, Das expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve as the central bank’s head and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and all the stakeholders for their support.

“Will demit office as Governor RBI later today. Thank you everyone for your support and good wishes,” Das wrote.

He thanked PM Modi for his guidance and encouragement, which he said greatly influenced his tenure. He also highlighted the “best fiscal-monetary coordination” with Sitharaman, which helped address multiple challenges during the last six years.

"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," the outgoing RBI chief said.

"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," he added.

Das, 67, took charge as the RBI Governor in December 2018 following the abrupt resignation of his predecessor, Urjit Patel, amid a period of tension between the central bank and the government. A seasoned bureaucrat from the 1980 batch of the Tamil Nadu cadre IAS, Das was tasked with stabilizing markets and restoring confidence in the central bank.

His tenure is widely credited with navigating India’s economy through unprecedented challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic, which disrupted global economies. Under his leadership, the RBI implemented monetary easing measures, including cutting the policy repo rate to a historic low of 4%, providing regulatory relaxations, and ensuring liquidity support to mitigate the pandemic's economic impact.

Das also steered the RBI through a period of high inflation following the pandemic, swiftly raising interest rates from May 2022 to balance growth and price stability.

“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,” Das wrote in his farewell message.

A history postgraduate from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and an alumnus of the University of Birmingham, Das played a key role in several policy decisions even before his RBI stint. As Economic Affairs Secretary, he was central to the implementation of demonetisation in 2016 and the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2017.

Das’s six-year stint at the RBI also saw India’s GDP growth average over 7% in the last four years, despite global headwinds. Reflecting on his tenure during his final monetary policy announcement on December 6, Das quoted Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: “...never lose your faith in the destiny of India.”