The Talk
Where you stand depends on where you sit. Centre and the States often have contrasting perspectives on their relations. Often the States have conflicting interests among themselves, in dealing with the Centre. World Bank deals with the Centre and the States through the Centre. Reserve Bank is accountable to the Centre but is banker, debt manager, and fiscal adviser to the States also. Symmetrical treatment of the Centre and equitable dispensation to all the States is mandatory for the Finance Commission. Centre-State relations depend on interplay of ideology, institutions, interests and individuals
Dr Y.V. Reddy, former Governor, Reserve Bank of India, draws on his experiences with these perspectives, to illustrate the colours, tastes and flavours of Union-State relations.
Y.V.Reddy, Dr, Former Governor RBI
Dr Yaga Venugopal Reddy is an IAS officer who served as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India between 2003 and 2008 and is Chairman of Finance Commission.
In 2010, he was awarded India’s second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan.
Dr Reddy has been credited saving the entire Indian banking system from the sub-prime and liquidity crisis of 2008. Dr Reddy played a crucial role in framing macro-economic policies that helped quarantine the country from the domino effect of the financial crisis encountered by the South-East Asian countries during the later part of the 1990s.
Joseph E. Stiglitz, Professor of Economics at Columbia University and Nobel Laureate, had said ‘If America had a central bank chief like Y.V. Reddy, the US economy would not have been in such a mess.’ He is widely consulted on many financial issues by institutions both in India as well as the world over.
Dr Reddy holds a PhD from Osmania University, Hyderabad and was awarded Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) by Sri Venkateswara University, India; and Doctor of Civil Law (Honoris Causa) by the University of Mauritius.
Dr Reddy is an Honorary Fellow of the London School of Economics.
Before RBI, Dr Reddy was with International Monetary Fund as Executive Director.