New Delhi, Dec. 10 -- When Sanjay Malhotra became the 26th governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) a year ago, he didn't inherit a crisis-in fact, the period of high inflation was drawing to a close. He did, however, assume office at a time when the entire world was gripped by uncertainty.

Malhotra responded with what can be described as two insurance rate cuts-50 basis points in June and 25bps in December-to stay ahead of the curve and to optimize the "rare goldilocks" period of low inflation and high growth. A basis point is one‑hundredth of a percentage point.

He ended his first year in office with a cumulative rate cut of 125bps, almost as aggressively as his predecessor, Shaktikanta Das, who slashed rates by 135bps in his...