Former finance minister P Chidambaram on Monday gave his stamp of approval on the decision of the RBI board, saying there was no harm in a technical committee examining the contentious issue of the central bank's reserves. The Congress leader further said he was glad that the government had "grudgingly" acknowledged the independence of the RBI. "There is no harm in a technical committee examining the issue of reserves. At least the reserves are safe until May 2019! Glad that the Government has stepped back and grudgingly acknowledged the independence of the RBI," Chidambaram said in a series of tweets after the marathon 9-hour board meeting of the central bank. Glad that the Government has stepped back and grudgingly acknowledged the independence of the RBI. — P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) November 19, 2018 The 18-member RBI board, led by Governor Urjit Patel, decided to form an expert committee that would review the economic capital framework, which governs the RBI’s capital requirements and terms of the transfer of its surplus to the government, and also restructuring of loans to stressed Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). READ | RBI to form panel to review transfer of surplus to govt, restructure loans to stressed MSMEs Previously, Chidambaram had warned the NDA government against laying its hands on RBI reserves, saying it would have “catastrophic” economic consequences for the country. He had also said the government was planning to override the RBI governor through the board of directors in which it has planted its hand-picked nominees”. In respect to this, the former Union minister said the independent directors must have realised the perilous path the government was taking. "My guess is that the independent directors (at least most of them) realised that the government was on a perilous course and refused to go beyond giving advice to the RBI," he tweeted.
