10 shortlisted for Acharya's replacement as RBI Dy Guv

MUMBAI: Ten candidates are understood to have been interviewed last week for the post of deputy governor — vacated by Viral Acharya— in charge of the monetary policy department in the Reserve Bank of India. The interview was conducted by the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointment Search Committee (FSRASC) and the final call on the appointment will be made by the Prime Minister's Office, reported The Times of India on Monday.

The post of deputy governor has been lying vacant ever since Acharya stepped down in August this year. According to sources, those shortlisted for the position include: Chetan Ghate, professor at Indian Statistical Institute, Arunish Chawla, joint secretary (department of expenditure), Manoj Govil, principal finance secretary, Kshatrapati Shivaji, executive director, ADB, Sanjeev Sanyal, principal economic adviser, T V Somanathan, additional chief secretary, Tamil Nadu, Michael Patra, RBI executive director, Prachi Mishra, economist at Goldman Sachs. Ghate and Patra participate in the monetary policy committee meetings as members.

The FSRASC is headed by the cabinet secretary and shortlists candidates. The final appointment is done by the Central government based on the committee's recommendations.

The committee includes RBI governor Shaktikanta Das and financial services secretary. Incidentally, the FSRASC is also free to identify and recommend anyone even though the person may not have applied.

The RBI currently has three deputy governors — N S Vishwanathan, who is serving a one-year extension, B P Kanungo and M K Jain.

The deputy governor in charge of monetary policy has traditionally been an external economist. Before Acharya, it was former governor Urjit Patel, who was preceded by Subir Gokarn. Acharya, the youngest deputy governor, quit before his term ended in January to return to New York University Stern School of Business to join in time for the new academic term. In a speech on the importance of independent regulatory institutions, Acharya had defended the RBI's autonomy, stating that the Centre would have to face "the wrath of markets" if the autonomy of the central bank was compromised.