Preserving the independence of the RBI

If proposals to set up an appellate body to review RBI's regulatory and supervisory decisions were to be implemented, the whole supervisory process would get mired in constant litigation

The last decade has witnessed an almost constant attack on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), emanating sometimes from within the government, sometimes from expert committees appointed by the government, and otherwise from independent analysts, researchers, commentators and economists. That this has happened is quite curious, particularly since the RBI is generally acknowledged to have negotiated very well the vicissitudes of financial markets, both global and domestic, resulting from the Asian financial crisis 1996-97, the north Atlantic financial crisis (NAFC) of 2008-09, and the taper tantrum of 2013. Its otherwise consistent performance has, however, been marred in recent years by