New Delhi Oct 29 PTI The government has extended the term of Reserve Bank of India RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das by three years -- a tenure that will make him the second longest serving head of the central bank Das was appointed as RBIs 25th governor on December 11 2018 for a period of three years after the surprise resignation of his predecessor Urjit Patel An official order dated October 28 said the government has reappointed Das as the governor of the central bank for a period of three years beyond December 10 2021 that is till December 2024 The extension is longer than the norm of a two-year term in the last two decades Das re-appointment will ensure continuity at a critical juncture for the economy that is emerging out of the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic He will be the fifth governor to get a tenure this long Usually RBI governors are given a five-year term If completed he will be the longest-serving governor after Sir Benegal Rama Rau who was in office for 7 years and 197 days between July 1 1949 and January 14 1957 The other four governors who had a tenure of more than 5 years were Bimal Jalan November 1997 to September 2003 James Taylor July 1937 to February 1943 B P Bhattacharya March 1962 to June 1967 and C D Deshmukh August 1943-June 1949 Raghuram Rajan -- the first governor under the Modi government -- demitted office after completing his first three-year tenure His successor and Das predecessor Urjit Patel was in office for 2 years and 98 days Under Das the central bank cut key interest rates to record lows infused massive liquidity into the banking system to shore up the pandemic-hit economy and oversaw the quick rescue of troubled lenders The decision to give him an extension was taken by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the reappointment of Shri Shaktikanta Das IAS Retd TN80 as Governor Reserve Bank of India for a period of three years beyond 10122021 or until further orders whichever is earlier the order said Das a 1980-batch IAS officer played an important role in steering the economy during the COVID-19 period Under his leadership RBI announced more than 100 measures to maintain financial stability and push growth during the unprecedented crisis To steer the economy out of the woods triggered by a once-in-a-century pandemic he took both conventional and unconventional measures The Monetary Policy Committee MPC headed by him brought down the benchmark interest rate to a record low of 4 per cent last year in May and since then has maintained an accommodative stance to support growth The governments largest-ever borrowing of Rs 1260 lakh crore was also conducted smoothly In his earlier stint as the Economic Affairs Secretary from 2015 to 2017 Das worked closely with the central bank and oversaw the demonetisation of high-value notes in late 2016 After his retirement he was named Indias G-20 sherpa and was also appointed as a member of the 15th Finance Commission PTI DP ANZ ABM ABM
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