RBI's professionalism has served India well: Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley congratulated RBI Governor Rahguram Rajan, his team and past governors for the contribution they made in making the country's economy resilient

Lauding the efforts of the Reserve Bank in improving macro-economic conditions in last eight decades, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the central bank's professionalism has served the country well.

"Starting from 1935 till today, a large part of the country's sovereign functions rests on shoulders of the RBI. From management of the country's monetary policy, inflation, rates... (to) banking sector regulator, manager of public debt.

"These are among the functions which RBI has undertaken in this 80-year-long journey and performed them in a commendable manner," he said.

Jaitley congratulated RBI Governor Rahguram Rajan, his team and past governors for the contribution they made in making the country's economy resilient.

"It is the professionalism and ability of the central bank which has indeed served the country well. We're indeed proud of its performance," Jaitley said while addressing a function to mark the 80th anniversary of RBI here today.

Jaitley further said that the government is making an all-out effort to restore credibility of the country by opening doors for overseas as well as domestic investors.

"We've opened our doors for investment. We're trying to ensure that as many people, both within and outside, invest in this country. We're trying to restore the credibility of both Indian economy and its decision-making process," he said.

Jaitley said the government is easing various processes and procedures to attract more funds into the economy.

"We're trying to rationalise our taxation structures, make them more and more non-adversarial and make some landmark changes both in the direct and indirect tax system," he added.

Government is looking forward to constitutional amendment for introducing goods and services tax (GST) soon, he said.

Talking about the government's flagship Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJYD), Jaitley said the programme has been a tremendous success and gave its credit to the entire banking system.

He, however, said the challenge now lies in making the accounts, opened under PMJYD, to be operational.

The next phase will be to provide social security like accident and life insurance, and pensions schemes, to PMJDY account holders, he added.