The newly appointed Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das made it clear that he would uphold the autonomy of the central bank and maintain its credibility.

 The RBI is a great institution, it has very long legacy, a very rich legacy. I will try and uphold the professionalism, the core values, the credibility and the autonomy of the Reserve Bank,  he said in his opening remarks at his first media interaction as Governor.  At the same time, every institution must also adhere to the principles of accountability,  he said.  We have to have stakeholder consultation. The government is not only a stakeholder but the government of the day runs the economy, runs the country and manages major policy decisions. I would like to believe that all issues, howsoever contentious, can be resolved through discussions,  he said.

The next meeting of the RBI central board would take place as per schedule, on December 14, he said. The meeting is expected to discuss the issue of governance of the central bank.  We will hold the meeting as planned. And we have to go through the agenda and discuss various issues,  he said.

The RBI and the government have been at loggerheads on issues such as how much capital reserves the central bank should have, governance, and lower capital requirement for banks.

Mr. Das said the committee proposed to discuss the issue of the central bank s capital reserves will be set up shortly and the time for it to submit its report will be finalised after discussions.

Focus on inflation too

While the issues of the banking sector are a priority, others such as liquidity, growth and inflation will also get his immediate attention, he said.

He conveyed his best wishes to his predecessor Dr. Urjit Patel. Mr. Das — a career bureaucrat who was finance secretary and has also been on the board of the RBI — assumed charge on Wednesday following Dr. Patel s resignation.