The primary duty of most central banks in the world is to influence the flow of money and credit in a nation's economy, and also keep the inflation monster firmly under control.

That’s not quite the case with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has to juggle these and many other roles. As the banking regulator it is the main financial sector watchdog and as the bankers’ banker it is tasked with the duty to maintain public confidence in the system and protect depositors' interest.

As the currency administrator, it prints money, while as the custodian of foreign exchange reserves it has the responsibility to prevent volatility in currency markets. As the government’s banker it performs merchant banking functions for the central and the state governments and also acts as their banker and lender of last resort.

In many ways, Urjit Patel, who took over as the 24th RBI governor exactly a year ago, has been put to test on each of these obligations – and he has passed each test, in an understated style that returns the focus of central bank-watchers to the institution and away from the governor. This change in style was, in a sense essential, given that his predecessor Raghuram Rajan was a rockstar and media magnet, and this had caused some discomfiture among the central banks’ political masters.

One year into the job, Patel has kept a tight rein on inflation, reasserted the independence of the central bank, spoken out against economically unsound policies and presided over some policy successes. Unlike Rajan, he has steered clear of non-economic matters.

Last November, Patel had to deal with the staggering task of managing the world’s largest currency recall exercise as critics pulled no punches on the RBI governor for the long queues outside ATMs that became the defining image of demonetisation.

A dignified Patel withstood heckling by political workers, successfully managed to respond to a volley of hostile questions by Parliamentarians and still ensured that New Delhi’s North Block was not able to get too overbearingly close to Mumbai’s Mint Street.

Twice he parried questions to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the value and volume of returned notes that were outlawed, choosing to ignore jeers and boos.

He eventually disclosed the details, in writing and as a matter of record. The latest RBI annual report, released last week, had a statistic of momentous significance. Buried in a mount of numbers and reams of commentary was the answer to one question that had been occupying most Indians’ minds: How much of the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 did eventually return to the banking system? The answer – 99 percent – drew flak for the government, but no one is blaming Patel for the exercise any longer, a measure of the respect he has earned.

When he took over, apart from core policy and regulatory issues, Patel’s biggest challenge was to fiercely protect RBI’s autonomy. This was not entirely unexpected, given Rajan’s repeated run-ins with the political establishment for his steadfast focus on taming inflation.

Rajan acquired his rock-star status for not hesitating to air his views on non-economic matters, bluntly shunning calls from industry and Parliamentarians to cut interest rates, and had said he was not in the business of accumulating Facebook `likes’. Patel, on the contrary, belongs to the opposite personality-type: reticent and media-shy. Officials and bankers who have interacted with him say he likes to maintain a low profile and tries his best to avoid publicity. A Patel press conference is short and to-the-point.

Analysts, and also Parliamentarians, have been keenly watching for cues in the phraseology of his public speeches and interactions. His ability to withstand mounting political pressure has been judged on the same scale as Rajan. And Patel’s record in keeping RBI at an arm’s length from political intrusion has been second to none.

The RBI under Patel has surprised many by the firmness with which it has stood on the side of price control in the growth-versus-inflation tug-of-war. In December, in his second policy barely a month after the government made the stunning demonetisation announcement on November 8, the Patel-headed monetary policy committee (MPC) had maintained a status quo on rates, when hopes were for the contrary.

The RBI repeated the same action in its two subsequent policies. In the last one year under Patel, the repo rate—the central bank’s key lending rate—has been cut only twice by 25 basis points each, in October 2016 and August.

Patel’s has also not minced words about the central bank’s discomfiture over state government-sponsored farm debt waivers. Economists and bankers loathe the idea of loan write-offs as these create a perverse incentive structure, distorts the loan market and puts a premium on defaults.

A month into office, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced a Rs 36,000 crore farm debt waiver, signalling the newly elected government’s intent to walk the talk on a key poll promise.

This set off demands in other states, prompting Maharashtra and Punjab to follow suit. The proximate reason for such debt write-offs were to offer a balm to distressed farmers to deal with glut and price crashes.

The RBI, in its recent “State Finances: A Study of Budgets, 2016-17”, however, has said that the ad hoc nature of various types of loan waivers by state governments could add to their fiscal burden and affect their finances over the medium term.

“While these loan waivers could alleviate the immediate debt burden of financially distressed farmers, it is essentially a transfer from tax payers to borrowers with an adverse bearing on the fiscal viability of states,” the central bank said in the report released in May.

One of Patel’s most underrated achievements has been to convince the government on a law that allows RBI to deal with bad loans on a case-to-case basis. The new law, which amended Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act, allows RBI, “from time to time,” to issue directions to the banking companies for resolution of stressed assets.

India’s banks have been beset with non-performing assets (NPAs), loans that have turned bad. Total NPAs have crossed Rs 10 lakh crore, and amendments in the Banking Regulation Act, along with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, is a big institutional response to tackle chronic loan defaults.

Last, but not the least, Patel has successfully overseen India’s move to a monetary policy framework, that makes taming inflation the central bank’s primary priority.

Under the new system, the RBI and the government has set a new retail inflation target of 4 percent for next five years with an upper tolerance level of 6 percent and lower limit of 2 percent. High inflation hurts people’s buying power, while low levels can indicate poor demand and weak economic activity. In October 2016, Patel became the first RBI governor to oversee interest rate-related decisions by an empowered monetary policy committee (MPC).

The move is primarily aimed at eliminating speculation in RBI’s interest rate decisions. For instance, when inflation is rising the central bank is generally expected to raise interest rates to slow down demand and tame price rises.

But, the RBI is also the public debt manager. In its capacity as the government’s sole merchant banker and sovereign bond regulator, its aim is to maintain low interest rates.

The new framework removes such ambiguities by making inflation targeting the central bank’s primary focus. Effectively, it implies that RBI will choose inflation management as its first choice should a toss-up were to be made between multiple goals. The record, at least on this front, is commendable. Retail inflation levels are hovering below 3 percent for several months.

With remonetisation almost complete, the `missing middle’ Rs 200 note introduced and inflation stabilised, the RBI’s focus, one would now expect, would shift to enabling growth in the broader economy that desperately needs a booster shot.