RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday drew parallel with Argentinian football legend Lionel Messi over ‘history major central bank governor’ taunt faced by him. Das’s witty reply came after an interviewer at a summit compared his position to an opponent facing Messi at a football arena. “Don’t mind it, but was Messi also a post-graduate in history? Not often, but I am sometimes reminded by people that I am supposed to have done history,” a PTI report quoted Das as saying.
Das is the first non-economist governor of the Reserve Bank of India in 28 years. A bureaucrat who has done a master’s degree in history from Delhi University’s St Stephen’s College, joined in as the RBI governor after Urjit Patel stepped down from the post in December 2018 due to differences with the government. The governor has recently completed four years of his tenure at the top post and has been at helm for tackling crises like the Covid pandemic and the inflation surge following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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During the chat, Das also talked about how “visualising” the DTC bus route number has helped him in remembering the complex numbers in lending rate growth. “The lending rates have gone up by about 117 bps. I remember 117 because in my student days, they had a DTC bus with that number 117,” Das quipped, PTI reported.
The RBI Governor has been subject to criticism over his academic record as a history graduate. However, those in his defence often point to his long stint in the finance ministry at positions including work as economic affairs secretary and India’s G-20 sherpa to drive home his credentials to lead the central bank.
(With PTI Inputs)
