Viral Acharya says changes in role of RBI board to match BoE, Fed will call for reconstitution: report

Any change in the role of the central bank — on the lines of Bank of England (BoE) and US Federal Reserve — will call for a reconstitution, said Viral Acharya, the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, reported The Economic Times, citing sources.

Acharya voiced his opinion during the board meeting between the RBI and the government last week, according to the report.

“Dr Acharya was simply explaining the situation as it stands today. The members of the boards of large central banks are appointed in a way so that there is no conflict of interest,” a source told the paper.

“In many cases directors’ job is a full-time responsibility. His views, as we understand, was that if RBI has to be board-driven, manned by experts and technocrats, it would require changes in rules and structure — for instance, the deputy governors today have no voting rights,” the source added.

According to the sources, Acharya and RBI think that the boards of RBI and Bank of England are not "an apple-toapple comparison”.