26th RBI Governor: Sanjay Malhotra
Sanjay Malhotra, a 1990 batch IAS officer from Rajasthan Cadre, was appointed the 26th RBI Governor on December 9th, 2024. He will begin his 3 years term on December 11th, 2024.
Native from Bikaner, Malhotra would be the second Malhotra after R N Malhotra (1985-1990) and the third IITian after Raghuram Rajan & D Subbarao.
Basic information about Sanjay Malhotra:
Date of Birth: 14 Feb 1968
Place of Birth: Bikaner, Rajasthan
Education – Graduate in computer science from IIT Kanpur
Post Graduate in Public Policy from Princeton University
1990 batch IAS officer from Rajasthan Cadre
Present position – Revenue secretary in the Ministry of Finance
Key working sectors – Power, Finance, Taxation (Direct & Indirect Both), IT & Mining
Key Achievements:
- NPA (Non-performing Assets) & capital adequacy are the focus areas where Sanjay Malhotra puts a lot of effort and improves the financial health of public sector banks.
- The new RBI Governor is also tech-savvy. This led to extended banking services to rural & under-banked areas via digital banking with technologies like Jan-Dhan Yojana & India Stack. He also supported digital payments, Aadhar-based banking, and Fintech.
- The insurance sector is also witnessing Malhotra’s contribution. By reforming policies he aimed to increase Private sector participation, penetrate rural areas, and increase the efficiency of insurance delivery mechanisms.
- Sanjay Malhotra is also associated with international financial institutions like the World Bank & International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- He played a vital role in the financial situation during the COVID-19 pandemic. He helped implement financial support measures for businesses and households to maintain liquidity in the economy.
But we should not forget that every good opportunity comes with new challenges to face. For Sanjay Malhotra also the situation is the same. With growing pressure to reduce interest rates when economic growth is slowed down by 5.4% in the July-September period making a seventh quarter low. Currency exchange rate after the Trump administration and credit flow to industry while watching risk build-up on bank balance sheets are other big challenges in front of the new RBI Governor. Managing between economic growth policies & politics is the most common challenge. Balancing these two and stabilizing the economy would be the expectation from the new RBI Governor.
