Dr. Urjit R Patel has been appointed as the New Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of three years with effect from 4th September, 2016.
He will replace the present RBI Governor Dr. Raghuram Rajan.
Dr Patel was first appointed as Deputy Governor for three years in January 2013 and was given an extension this January.
He has run the RBI’s monetary policy department since 2013 and was being viewed as a leading contender for the governor’s job.
Patel has headed a committee that introduced landmark changes including a switch to inflation-targeting and adopting consumer prices as the new benchmark instead of wholesale prices. The changes he helped drive are considered to be among the most significant monetary policy reforms since India opened up its economy in 1991.
Patel did BA from the London School of Economics and obtained M. Phil. degree from Oxford University in 1986. He received his doctorate in Economics from Yale University in 1990.
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. Interestingly, he joined IMF as a Kenyan citizen.
He has also been a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution since 2009.
ABOUT RBI GOVERNOR:
The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the chief executive of India’s central bank and the ex-officio chairperson of its Central Board of Directors.
Indian Rupee currency notes, issued by the RBI, bear the governor’s signature. Since its establishment in 1935 by the British colonial government, the RBI has been headed by 23 governors.
The inaugural officeholder was the Britisher Sir Osborne Smith, while C. D. Deshmukh was the first Indian governor.
The bank’s 15th governor, Manmohan Singh, would go on to become India’s 13th prime minister.