India central bank chief seen as ‘safe’ no matter who wins vote

Bloomberg

India’s central bank Governor Shaktikanta Das has built up support on both sides of the political divide, making his position relatively safe under a new government no matter who wins the election.
As an ex-career bureaucrat, Das has worked under administrations led by both Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Indian National Congress. He’s likely to stay in his post after India concludes its election process on May 23, central bank watchers say.
That should be a relief to investors who had to grapple with a fair bit of upheaval at the Reserve Bank of India late last year. Urjit Patel resigned abruptly as governor in December after tussling with Modi’s government over a number of issues. Das was appointed shortly after for a three-year term that ends in December 2021.
“Das has worked with distinction with both governments and therefore the probability of his continuing and completing the tenure should be extremely high,” said Ashok Chawla, a former top government official who worked with Das in the finance ministry.
Before becoming governor, Das was economic affairs secretary in Modi’s government, and the public face of the prime minister’s controversial decision in November 2016 to ban high-value currency notes.
Since his appointment at the central bank, he’s taken a number of steps to support the economy and that helps Modi’s regime: he’s lowered interest rates, relaxed lending norms for banks to increase credit flow, and named a panel to consider transferring the RBI’s excess capital to the government. With data showing activity in India’s manufacturing sector slowed to an eight-month low in April, Das is likely to retain his dovish bias on monetary policy.