Urjit Patel named next RBI Governor

RBI’s Deputy Governor Urjit Patel was 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.

Eminent economist, consultant and banker Urjit Patel has been appointed new Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

He will be the eighth Deputy Governor to be made Governor at RBI.

The appointment has been made on the recommendation of the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointment Search Committee (FSRASC) headed by Cabinet Secretary.

Patel, born on October 28, 1963, received his doctorate in economics from Yale University in 1990) and M Phil from Oxford (1986).

He was first appointed as Deputy Governor for three years in January 2013 and was given an extension this January.

Prior to his appointment as the Deputy Governor at RBI in 2013, Patel was advisor (Energy and Infrastructure) with Boston Consulting Group.He has worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) between 1990 and 1995 covering the US, India, Bahamas and Myanmar desks.

As deputy governor, Patel headed the RBI panel to draft the monetary policy report, which became the basis of the ongoing reforms at the apex bank.

The Patel committee report also formed the basis of the monetary policy committee, which takes away a lot of powers of RBI and the governor, as also move to create a public debt management agency.

Urjit Patel will take over the charge from Rajan after he demits the office on September 4. The tenure of the present governor Raghuram Rajan is ending on September 4.