Finance Minister addresses the Central Board of Directors of Reserve Bank of India

The 577th meeting of the Central Board of Directors of Reserve Bank of India was held at New Delhi today.

Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Hon’ble Union Minister of Finance, addressed the Directors of the Central Board. The Hon’ble Finance Minister in her address outlined the thinking behind the Union Budget 2019 and the focus areas of the Government. The Finance Minister also highlighted the importance of coordination between the RBI and Government. Complimenting the Finance Minister on the Budget, the Board Members made various suggestions for the consideration of the Government.

The Union Finance Minister was accompanied by Shri Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary, Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary (Investment and Public Asset Management) and Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor, during her interaction with the Central Board of Directors.

Prior to the Finance Minister’s address, the Board reviewed the current economic situation, global and domestic challenges and various areas of operations of the Reserve Bank, as part of its regular proceedings. Among other matters, the Board finalised the 3-year Medium-Term Strategy document of the Reserve Bank, which covered, inter-alia, its Mission and Vision Statement. The Board also approved the Bank’s Budget for the period July 2019 - June 2020. Other matters discussed by the Board included issues related to currency management and payment systems.

Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor chaired the 577th meeting of the Central Board. Deputy Governors Shri N. S. Vishwanathan, Dr. Viral V. Acharya, Shri B. P. Kanungo and Shri Mahesh Kumar Jain and other Directors of the Central Board: Shri Natarajan Chandrasekharan, Shri Bharat Doshi, Shri Sudhir Mankad, Shri Manish Sabharwal, Shri Dilip S. Shanghvi, Dr. Ashok Gulati, Shri Satish Marathe, Shri Swaminathan Gurumurthy, Ms. Revathy Iyer and Prof. Sachin Chaturvedi, attended the meeting. The Directors of Government of India on the Central Board, Shri Subhash Chandra Garg, Finance Secretary and Secretary (Economic Affairs) and Shri Rajiv Kumar, Secretary (Financial Services) also attended the meeting.

Yogesh Dayal

Chief General Manager

Press Release: 2019-2020/86

Government Reserve Bank coordination emphasised; Finance Minister outlined budget priorities and RBI approved its medium term strategy. Government-Reserve Bank coordination was emphasised in the Finance Minister's address, which outlined Union Budget priorities and sought closer engagement between fiscal authorities and the central bank. The Board finalised a three year Medium Term Strategy defining the Bank's mission and vision, approved the Bank's budget for the upcoming period, and reviewed operational issues including currency management and payment systems.