Rama Krishna Sangem
Dr Urjit Patel, the former Reserve Bank of India governor, has been appointed Executive Director (ED) representing India at the International Monetary Fund after the Centre’s approval for a three-year tenure. Dr Patel was considered to have fallen out of the grace of the Modi led government after his reservations over the demonetization of Rs 2,000 notes in 2016 November. This appointment shows he is back in the good books of the Modi government.
“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Dr. Urjit Patel, Economist and Former RBI Governor, to the post of Executive Director (ED) at the 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, whichever is earlier,” said the government in a press release.
Dr Patel had assumed the role, in 2016, of the RBI’s 24th governor after Raghuram Rajan. His tenure was notably brief, as he became the first RBI governor since 1992 to step down citing personal reasons in 2018.
Dr Patel, insider of RBI
Before his post as RBI governor, he served in the capacity of deputy governor at the central bank, where his responsibilities encompassed monetary policy, economic policy research, statistics and information management, deposit insurance, communication and Right to Information.
The appointment comes months after government removed Dr Krishnamurthy Subramanian from the post in May, six months before his tenure was supposed to end.
Who’s Dr Urjit Patel?
Urjit Patel (born 28 October 1963) is a Kenyan-born Indian economist, who formerly served as the 24th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and also Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India, looking after monetary policy, economic research, financial markets, statistics and information management. He resigned from his post on 10 December 2018, being the first RBI governor to state personal reasons as a driving factor for resigning.
Urjit currently serves as Chairman of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, additional director of Britannia Industries and independent director of John Cockerill India.
He studied in Nairobi at Jamhuri High School, and prior to that the Gujarati community-run Visa Oshwal Primary School. He studied at the London School of Economics for a Bachelor of Science degree in 1984. He obtained an M.Phil. degree from University of Oxford in 1986. He was conferred a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University in 1990. He was at IMF India Desk during the 1991–94 transition period.
