Shaktikanta Das: Towards a Stable Financial System

Lecture by Mr Shaktikanta Das, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Nani Palkhivala Memorial Lecture, 16 January 2021.

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

At the outset, let me pay my homage to Shri Nani A. Palkhiwala and his grand legacy as a nation builder of modern India. I would also like to convey my sincere appreciation to the Palkhivala Foundation for continuing the tradition of organising Shri Palkhivala Memorial Lectures. I consider it as a great honour to be delivering the 39th Shri Palkhivala Memorial Lecture today, more so – among others – because he was very closely associated with the RBI during his tenure as a member of the Central Board from 1963 to 1970. Gleaning through the history of the RBI, I gather that he participated actively in discussions of the Central Board on important issues spanning bank nationalisation, external aid and development finance institutions. He invariably brought insightful perspective to the deliberations on various issues. Shri Palkhivala was a strong votary of enhancing competition in the banking sector and nurturing native entrepreneurial capabilities to spur economic progress. These issues continue to be relevant even in the present times.