New Delhi: The central government has appointed Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra as the 26th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Malhotra, a 1990-batch IAS officer from the Rajasthan cadre, will take charge on December 11, 2024, succeeding Shaktikanta Das. His tenure will last for three years.
Malhotra, an IIT Kanpur graduate in Computer Science, also holds a master’s degree in public policy from Princeton University. He brings extensive expertise in finance, taxation, and policy-making, with a career spanning various key roles. These include serving as Chairman and Managing Director of REC Limited, Secretary in the Department of Financial Services, and most recently, Revenue Secretary in the Ministry of Finance since December 2022. He also held additional charge as Secretary of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in 2023.
Shaktikanta Das, who completes his term on December 10, led the RBI for six years through significant challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and global conflicts. Under his leadership, the RBI maintained a cautious approach to inflation control but faced criticism for not reducing key interest rates amid slowing GDP growth.
The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee recently kept the repo rate steady at 6.5% for the 11th consecutive time, reflecting the central bank’s commitment to curbing inflation while supporting economic stability.
Malhotra’s appointment marks a new chapter for the RBI, as he prepares to steer the central bank through evolving economic and monetary challenges.
