Govt abruptly terminates IMF ED Subramanian's services 6 months ahead of tenure
New Delhi: In an unexpected move, the government has terminated services of K V Subramanian as the executive director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) six months ahead of his three-year tenure.
The move comes days before the IMF executive board is to consider financial aid for debt-ridden Pakistan. Post-Pahalgam terror attack last month, India is making efforts to corner Pakistan diplomatically and at various global fora as New Delhi believes its involvement in the attack that led to killing of 26 tourists.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has terminated Subramanian's services effective April 30, 2025, sources said on Saturday.
The reasons for Subramanian's exit have not been officially announced.
The sources said the government would soon find his replacement to be nominated to the IMF board as Executive Director.
According to the sources, Subramanian is learnt to have raised questions about the IMF's datasets, which did not go down well in the corridors of the multilateral agency.
In the past too, the IMF has been unhappy with some of the statements made by Subramanian, especially related to India's debt situation.
Besides, the sources said, concerns were raised over an "alleged impropriety" relating to the promotion and publicity of his latest book, 'India@100: Envisioning Tomorrow's Economic Powerhouse'.
Subramanian was appointed as the executive director (India) at the IMF with effect from November 1, 2022 for a period of three years. Prior to this, he served as the chief economic adviser to the government.
The executive board of the IMF is composed of 25 directors (executive directors or EDs) elected by the member countries or groups of countries.
India is in a four-country constituency, along with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan as members.
The IMF Executive Board will meet on May 9 to discuss Pakistan's staff-level agreement for a new USD 1.3 billion arrangement under a climate resilience loan programme, along with the first review of the ongoing USD 7 billion bailout package.
The Washington-based multilateral lender announced that this will be the first review "under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF)", along with a request for an arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).
India has also reportedly begun efforts to bring Pakistan back under terror funding watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF)'s 'grey list'. Pakistan was on the 'grey list' earlier, between June 2018 and October 2022, and faced increased monitoring. Being on FATF's grey list adversely affects foreign investments in the country.
