Reserve Bank of India reaches 1 million Twitter followers; first central bank globally to hit milestone

In less than nine years, India’s Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has become the first central bank in the world to achieve the 1-million-follower mark on the microblogging network Twitter on Sunday. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das tweeting about the milestone on Sunday afternoon said, “RBI Twitter account reaches one million followers today. A new milestone. Congratulations to all my colleagues in RBI.” The central bank had joined the networking site back in January 2012, according to its profile. However, neither Das (who has 135.4k followers) nor RBI follows each other on Twitter.

RBI Twitter account reaches one million followers today. A new milestone. Congratulations to all my colleagues in RBI.

— Shaktikanta Das (@DasShaktikanta) November 22, 2020

The RBI was set-up on April 1, 1935, as per the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. Its central office was initially based in then Calcutta and was later shifted to Mumbai in 1937. Though originally privately owned, since nationalisation in 1949, RBI is fully owned by the Government of India. Among the top central banks globally, the US’s Federal Reserve System has 677.3k followers, European Central Bank has 591k followers, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority has 562.9k followers, Bank of England has 317.2k followers, Bank of Canada has 180.3k followers, etc. RBI currently has 9,434 followers on LinkedIn.

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Meanwhile, an internal working group (IWG) of the RBI has suggested the conversion of large non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) into banks. Well-run NBFCs having an asset size of Rs 50,000 crore and more including ones owned by corporates may be allowed conversion “subject to completion of 10 years of operations and meeting due diligence criteria and compliance with additional conditions specified in this regard,” according to IWG headed by PK Mohanty. The group has also suggested increasing promoters’ stake from 15 per cent to 26 per cent and a hike in minimum capital from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,000 crore for new banks. The IWG was established on June 12 by the central bank to review the extant licensing and regulatory guidelines with respect to ownership and control, corporate structure, and other similar issues.