RBI Appoints Sudha Balakrishnan As Its First Chief Financial Officer

The Reserve Bank of India has appointed Sudha Balakrishnan as the first chief financial officer, as per reports. Balakrishnan, a former executive of India's first and largest depository NSDL, joined the bank on May 15.

RBI's First CFO Post

The search for the ideal candidate for the CFO's post was on since May 2017 when the central bank first advertised for this post. However, a foreign bank executive, who was selected, declined to join because of remuneration differences. In October 2017, RBI advertised for a direct recruitment of 'chief financial officer' in the rank of executive director. Balakrishnan's selection came after this.

A recruitment notice issued in October 2017 mentioned the new CFO would be responsible for communicating an accurate and timely reporting of the central bank’s financial performance.

At RBI, Balakrishnan will be in charge of the central bank’s balance sheet ensuring accounting policies and procedures comply with regulations. She will also oversee corporate strategy functions like provident fund rate, that the central bank manages for its employees

Former RBI governor, Raghuram Rajan, during his term, had first floated the idea of having a dedicated official department for handling internal financial functions of RBI. After Urjit Patel took over as RBI governor, it was decided in consultation with the government to have a CFO position at the rank of an executive director.

Meet Sudha Balakrishnan, the woman RBI picked to get its books sorted https://t.co/5KAQNj5bep

— EconomicTimes (@EconomicTimes) May 28, 2018

Sudha Balakrishnan - The First CFO 

Sudha Balakrishnan is a chartered accountant. She was the vice-president with the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL), India’s first and largest depository. She will be the 12th executive director of the RBI, and will serve a three-year term. The CFO is eligible for a monthly salary of Rs 2 lakh with housing or Rs 4 lakh per month without housing and an annual increase of 3% to 5% of gross cost to company.

Balakrishnan will be in charge of the dividend RBI pays to the government, that is crucial in the final budgetary calculations. Also, her responsibility will be overseeing the government and bank account department. The account departments process government transactions like payments and revenue collections such as taxes. As the nodal officer, the CFO will also oversee the central bank’s investments in India and abroad.

RBI has also sought applications from eligible candidates for the post of Deputy Governor. This post is vacant since SS Mundra retired last year in July.