RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das bags 'Governor of the Year' award

Reserve Bank of India's governor Shaktikanta Das has been awarded the prestigious title of the 'Governor of the Year' for 2023 by Central Banking, an international economic research journal, for his outstanding ability to tackle two major crises — Covid-19 outbreak, and Russia-Ukraine war and planned accordingly to help the Indian economy pass through all odds safely.

The publication praised Das for his steady leadership during the challenging times that have seen the collapse of a major non-bank firm and the inflationary impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Under Das's leadership, the RBI implemented several critical reforms raising repo rates several times to address inflation, introducing innovative payment systems, and providing growth-supportive measures during the pandemic. The publication praised Das for steering the central bank deftly between intense political pressures and economic disaster. 

During his speech after receiving the award, Das insisted that 'sunset clauses' be applied to most of the RBI's COVID-19 interventions and provided targeted liquidity to key sectors, foreign exchange, and more generous terms to state governments on their overdraft facilities.

Central Banking Publications is a financial publisher specializing in public policy and financial markets, with an emphasis on central banks, and international financial institutions.

This is the second time that an Indian central bank governor has received this award. RBI's former governor Raghuram Rajan was the first Indian central bank governor to receive the title back in 2015.

The National Bank of Ukraine was also awarded the Central Bank of the Year award. However, the publication asserted that Das's leadership during a time of crisis and his significant contributions to India's economic reforms, he was deemed a deserving recipient of the coveted Governor of the Year award.

The publication highlighted that India’s GDP has risen around 90 per cent in the last ten years, and GDP per capita is up around 70 per cent, thus the average Indian has an income equivalent to $2,400 per year — $1,000 more than in 2010. While poverty continues to persist, it has fallen from 55 per cent to 16 per cent in the space of 15 years on the United Nations’ multidimensional metric.