NSDL executive Sudha Balakrishnan has been appointed the first ever Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Reserve Bank of India effective May 15. Balakrishnan, a chartered accountant, was till recently Vice President with the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL). She will be the 12th Executive Director of the RBI, and will have a three year term. Balakrishnan will be in charge of the central bank's balance sheet to ensure accounting policies and procedures comply with regulations. She will also be responsible for communicating an accurate and timely reporting of the central bank's financial performance and oversee its budgetary processes. Besides internal accounts and budget, the CFO will also be in charge of corporate strategy functions like deciding the provident fund rate, which the central bank manages for its employees. More importantly, Balakrishnan will be in charge of the government and bank account department, which processes government transactions like payments and revenue collections such as taxes apart from overseeing the central bank's investments in India and abroad. The appointment will initially be made for a period of three years, which could be extended further subject to annual review.