Reserve Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the central bank of India, and was established on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. The Central Office is located at Mumbai since inception. Though originally privately owned, since nationalisation in 1949, RBI is fully owned by the Government of India.

RBI is governed by a central board (board headed by a governor) appointed by the Central Government of India. The current governor of RBI is Dr.Y.Venugopal Reddy (who succeeded Dr.Bimal Jalan on September 6, 2003). RBI has 22 regional offices across India.

Main Functions

• Monetary Authority:
  • Formulates, implements and monitors the monetary policy.
  • Objective: maintaining price stability and ensuring adequate flow of credit to productive sectors.

• Regulator and supervisor of the financial system:
  • Prescribes broad parameters of banking operations within which the country's banking and financial system functions.
  • Objective: maintain public confidence in the system, protect depositors' interest and provide cost-effective banking services to the public.

• Manager of Exchange Control:
  • Manages the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
  • Objective: to facilitate external trade and payment and promote orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India.

• Issuer of currency:
  • Issues and exchanges or destroys currency and coins not fit for circulation.
  • Objective: to give the public adequate quantity of supplies of currency notes and coins and in good quality.

• Developmental role
  • Performs a wide range of promotional functions to support national objectives.

• Related Functions
  • Banker to the Government: performs merchant banking function for the central and the state governments; also acts as their banker.
  • Banker to banks: maintains banking accounts of all scheduled banks.

• Reserve Bank of India - Official site