RBI provides paid leave and financial incentives for staff to acquire PhD degrees:
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that there is increasing use of big data and data generated by private sources for policy research.
“We cannot escape the fact that data is the new oil. The department may have to look at all such data, being mindful of ways to deal with misleading and noisy analysis that such data may at times throw up,” Das said at the annual research conference of the Department of Economic and Policy Research, RBI, on Saturday at Hyderabad.
An integral part of skill upgradation would be embracing new techniques for applied research. Das advocated: “ With growing sophistication of the algorithms, the manifold increase in the three Vs of data – volume, velocity and variety, and the quantum leaps in computing, human intelligence can be used better for analysis, with AI/ML allowing automation of data processing.”
While the RBI has multiple schemes for training, both in India and abroad, for an economist there are two best ways to acquire the required skills – first, study and write more research papers regularly (or learning by doing), and second, have a PhD that prepares you with all basic skills for conducting research, Das said. An Economics Benchmark report by centralbanking.com
in December 2021 after a survey of 33 central banks found that on average, one in five economists in a central bank have a PhD.
Rapid advancement in technology has brought with it an avalanche of data. The research department’s role is to quickly process these data and derive meaningful inferences of relevance to policy making. Das acknowledged: “I am extremely happy that the research department of the Reserve Bank has been successfully adapting to these evolving challenges, providing high-quality research inputs on issues covering all key functions of the bank and multiple dimensions of the economy. The department has also been expanding its scope of research activities to meet evolving challenges in areas such as climate change, digitalisation and global spillovers. The department must internalise strategic medium to long-term research issues in its research agenda. The trifecta of deglobalisation, climate change and deeper penetration of technology appears to be the most anticipated trend for the future.”
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