Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India deputy governor NS Vishwanathan has quit three months ahead of his retirement in June due to health reasons, posing a challenge for navigation of key supervisory and regulatory functions of the central bank in one of its most difficult times, people familiar with his decision said.
Vishwanathan would end his nearly four-decade career by March 31 when the central bank would relieve him of his duties, said the people who did not want to be identified.
“He has been advised by doctors to rest after stress-related issues cropped up recently,” said one of the people. “His presence was required at the RBI during these times, but the health of an individual takes precedence over everything.”
The RBI did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Vishwanathan has been a lifetime regulator after joining the service in 1981. He is an authority on the rules and regulations governing the banking industry and is seen as the “go-to” man to know the rule book. It was because of this authority that he was given a one-year extension last June after Shaktikanta Das became the governor.
As a deputy governor, he was looking after key departments such as banking regulation, co-operative banking, non-banking regulation, deposit insurance, financial stability and inspection.
“He’s extremely conservative and stickler for rules,” said a second person, adding, “It was under him that the RBI stood its ground on the issue of not going for a bailout for NBFCs.”
He was one of the key supporters of former governor Urjit Patel, who had taken on the government on several issues including the transfer of excess capital to the government and straightening the functioning of state-run banks which were put under the Prompt Corrective Action.
With the backing of Patel, he championed the cause of prudential measures, which included the February 12 circular on stressed assets that was struck down by the Supreme Court but reintroduced with modifications without diluting the effect of the previous one.
The collapse of IL&FS in 2018 led to criticism of the RBI’s supervisory capabilities, but it stood its ground on its role as a supervisor and the responsibility of management in conducting the day-to-day affairs of the institution whose shareholders included HDFC and State Bank of India.
He had a three-year secondment to the Bank of Mauritius, the central bank of Mauritius, as its director - supervision.
Vishwanathan, a Master of Economics from Bangalore University, had been the RBI’s face for the past few years at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Basel-based central banks’ central bank.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com