Urjit Patel Appointed New RBI Governor, To Take Over From Rajan

New Delhi: 52-year-old Urjit Patel, the RBI's Deputy Governor in charge of monetary policy was on Saturday appointed as the new Governor for a 3 year term and will take over the post after current chief Raghuram Rajan demits office on September 4, 2016.

Patel, an economist and banker is the 8th Deputy Governor to be promoted to the top post and will take over as the 24th Governor of the Central bank.

Patel who acquired his BA from the London School of Economics and M. Phil from Oxford University in 1986, did his Phd in Economics from Yale University in 1990, and has worked with the Boston Consulting Group and Reliance Industries.

In the past, he has also worked with several high level committees at state and central government level.

As RBI Deputy Governor, Dr Patel looked after Monetary Policy, Economic Policy Research, Statistics Information Management and various other important tasks.

Patel has authored technical publications, papers and comments in the areas of Indian macroeconomics, public finance, infrastructure, financial inter-mediation, international trade and the economics of climate change.

The selection of Patel, the chief strategist and lieutenant of Rajan in the battle against inflation, signals an intent to target price rise over the coming years.

It was a committee headed by Patel which set the inflation target. The similarities however end there.

Patel is a hardcore monetary economist, a pure technocrat; whereas Rajan is a professor-philosopher whose expertise is in finance.

Dr.Patel's appointment comes after current chief of the central bank Raghuram Rajan on June 18 said no to a second term.

Rajan told his colleagues at the Reserve Bank of India that he will be returning to academics after his term ends adding that although the work on containing inflation and cleaning bank books is not over, but he has decided to move on after 'due reflection' and consultation with the government.

53-year-old Rajan, who was among the youngest to become RBI Governor three years ago, earned a reputation of fighting inflation that also led to criticism by some quarters including by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy.

Rajan had said he will always be available to serve the country and is confident that his successor will take RBI to new heights.

While Rajan's exit has been seen in many quarters as driven by his often candid views against various policies of the government, Patel's appointment as the 24th RBI Governor may end up ensuring continuity of the monetary policy of the current Governor.

(With inputs from PTI)