Viral V Acharya: Monetary transmission in India - why is it important and why hasn't it worked well?

Text of the Inaugural Aveek Guha Memorial Lecture by Dr Viral V Acharya, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, 16 November 2017.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Central bank speech  | 
23 November 2017

When I travel from my residence in Vile Parle (W) to the Reserve Bank of India Central Office in Fort, I pass each way Kenilworth - the birth place of late Homi Jehangir Bhabha. It is a good way to start and end the day, being reminded not just of his immense intellect but also of his deep sense of service to India. I am thus grateful to Professor Dipan Ghosh, who was the Dean of Students during my time at IIT Bombay, for inviting me to speak today in the Homi Bhabha Auditorium, and to Dr Subhendu Guha, for having endowed this lecture series at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in memory of his dear son, Aveek Guha. "Aveek," a beautiful Bengali name meaning "fearless", is exactly how all research needs to be, taking on seemingly insurmountable challenges, fighting it out with grit, and along the way, dissecting, reflecting, and distilling truth to its essence until it is unearthed in some recognizable form from beneath its scratchy exterior. The TIFR is a daunting proposition for any researcher to speak at. I hope that I can progress some way towards meeting its highest standards in the form of this talk, by raising an issue that is germane to all of us in today's forum and that is worthy of being tackled in due course - that of, Monetary Transmission in India: Why is it important and why hasn't it worked well?