New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday slammed RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das over the central bank's decision to transfer Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the government, saying an "obliging, pliant" RBI Governor has done what none of his predecessors was willing to do.
Congress leader Anand Sharma, who addressed a press conference at the party headquarters here, said the RBI has taken an unprecedented decision of transferring its entire surplus in one go to the government.
"The Government is in a position to intimidate any authority, any institution and here there is obliging, pliant RBI Governor who has done what none of his predecessors was willing to do," said Sharma but without naming Das.
He said the decision of RBI was "a confirmation of what the party had been forewarning about the state of the economy."
Sharma said after the transfer from the RBI, there is nothing more for the bank to transfer because they have touched a red line.
"Tomorrow, if you have a global economic crisis, the RBI has no room left to intervene and help the Indian economy. This is how grave the situation is," he said.
The Congress leader said except the Bimal Jalan committee, "which was set up after the government pressurised and pushed the Reserve Bank to give a part of its Contingent Risk Buffer (CRB)", the suggestion to part with the RBI's reserves was resisted by former Governors including Raghuram Rajan and Urjit Patel.
He said the CRB has been brought to the minimal level. "Below that you cannot go because RBI's own standing as a central bank will collapse," he said, adding that the decision will have catastrophic consequences.
"The Central government has done it out of sheer desperation. Its policies have brought the economy to ruin. Our GDP is continuously falling," he said.
