Urjit Patel appointed new RBI Governor

RBI’s Deputy Governor Urjit Patel was on Saturday appointed as the next Governor of the central bank after Raghuram Rajan demits office on September 4. He was first appointed as Deputy Governor for three years in January 2013 and was given an extension this January. Patel has been known as “inflation warrior” of Rajan, who made a surprise announcement in June that he would return to academia after end of his current three-year tenure.

“The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Dr Urjit R Patel as Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of three years w.e.f. 04.09.2016,” a press note said.

The appointment has been made based on the recommendation of the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee (FSRASC) headed by Cabinet Secretary, said the release. Prior to his appointment as the Deputy Governor at RBI in 2013, Patel was advisor (Energy and Infrastructure) with Boston Consulting Group, while he has also worked with Reliance Industries in the past.

Patel, born on October 28, 1963, received his doctorate in economics from Yale University in 1990 and M Phil from Oxford (1986). He has worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) between 1990 and 1995 covering the US, India, Bahamas and Myanmar desks.

Patel headed a committee that paved the way for the proposed monetary policy committee. He is considered as the architect of a switch to formally target inflation, among other changes.

Patel joined the central bank on January 11, 2013, months before Raghuram Rajan took charge as the Governor and had been heading the monetary policy department.

Urjit Patel will take over the charge from Rajan after the latter demits the office on September 4. He will be the eighth Deputy Governor to be made Governor at RBI.