Subbarao smiles
Union Government and the Finance Minister may fail and just put the blame of RBI Governor to save their faces, but in reality Subbaro played a stellar role in trying times and that amply appreciated chief of fellow bankers in India and abroad. The outgoing RBI Governor received all praise for his actions and deft handling of the ticklish issues relating to policy matters. Rao came, saw and conquered the dwindling economy and the free fall of Indian Rupee from going pathetically with swift moves. He managed things very well and adjusted to the maximum to the Finance Ministry but still P. Chidambaram was trying to spoil his retirement party from his loose talk. Top bankers have hailed the contributions of the outgoing Reserve Bank Governor Duvuuri Subbarao saying he did his best during a tenure that was marked by difficult times for the economy. Subbarao demits office with a smile and after being at the helm for five years that saw the beginning of the global recession from which it is yet to recover. Within a fortnight of him assuming office, global investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and the hit pulled the global banking system down to an unprecedented credit crisis which eventually led to the worst recession since the Great Depression. This was followed by a difficult period which saw RBI working in close coordination with the government and other financial sector regulators, as also other central banks, to ring-fence the economy. While the fiscal and monetary stimuli ensured that the economy did not fall off cliff, this soon gave way to a spike in inflation. This saw rise in policy rates from October 2010 for a year or so even as growth started coming down. As Subbarao’s term moved close to ending, worries over slowing growth and stubborn inflation complicated the matter for the central bank. His problems got compounded with the fall of the rupee beginning May-end. It declined to a low of 68.85 intra-days to the dollar early last week, but with some wise thinking and intervention by RBI has recovered marginally. As he is not in favour of the Government he may not get Governor's post for some state and may be isolated here afterwards. Still, Subbarao smiled on his retirement.
No comments:
Post a Comment