Govt names former RBI Governor Urjit Patel as IMF Executive Director

New Delhi: The government has cleared the appointment of former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel as Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a three-year term.

A government order dated August 28 stated, “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Dr Urjit R Patel, economist and former Governor, Reserve Bank of India, to the post of Executive Director, International Monetary Fund, for a period of three years with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post, or until further orders.”

Patel will succeed KV Subramanian, who was released from his assignment on April 30, 2025, about six months before his tenure was scheduled to conclude. The IMF executive board comprises 25 members representing different countries and groups of countries. India shares its constituency with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan. Patel previously served as Vice President for Investment Operations at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The Beijing-based institution had announced his resignation in January 2024 citing family health reasons. He was appointed the 24th Governor of the RBI in 2016, succeeding Raghuram Rajan, and stepped down in December 2018 following differences with the government. Before that, Patel was Deputy Governor overseeing key departments, including monetary policy and economic research.

Born in 1963, Patel studied economics at the London School of Economics, Oxford University, and Yale University. He began his career at the IMF in 1990, working on country desks, including India and the US.