Chennai: Former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) S. Venkitaramanan passed away following brief illness yesterday. He was 92.

He is survived by two daughters and their families.

Venkitaramanan managed the affairs at the Central Bank when the country faced two major crisis — balance of payment crisis that led to the pledging of gold and the securities scam triggered by Harshad Mehta — in the  1990-92 period.

He had served the RBI between December 1990 and December 1992.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das hailed him as an ‘outstanding personality’ and ‘public servant’ and recalled his immense contributions during the period of crisis.

Venkitaramanan’s term also saw India adopt the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) stabilisation programme where the Rupee underwent a devaluation and the launch of the programme of economic reforms, the RBI said in its website.