Urjit Patel takes over from Raghuram Rajan as RBI Governor

Urjit Patel has assumed charge as the 24th Governor of Reserve Bank, succeeding Raghuram Rajan whose three-year controversy-ridden tenure ended on Sunday.

Patel has assumed charge effective September 4, 2016, after serving as deputy governor since January 2013, RBI said in a statement on Monday.

He was reappointed as deputy governor on January 11, 2016, after the completion of his first three-year term in office.

Among his assignments as deputy governor, Patel chaired the Expert Committee to Revise and Strengthen the Monetary Policy Framework.

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“Representing India, he actively participated in steering the signing into force of the inter-governmental treaty and the Inter-Central Bank Agreement (ICBA) among the BRICS nations, which led to the establishment of the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), a swap line framework among the central banks of these countries,” RBI said.

He has also served at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Patel was on deputation from the IMF to RBI during 1996-1997, and in that capacity he provided advice on development of the debt market, banking reforms, pension reforms, and evolution of the foreign exchange market.

He was a Consultant to the Ministry of Finance from 1998 to 2001. He also had other assignments in public and private sectors, including with Reliance Industries, IDFC Ltd, MCX Ltd and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation.

Dr Patel, as he is commonly referred to as, has worked closely with several central and state government high level committees. These include the Task Force on Direct Taxes, the High Level Expert Group for Reviewing the  Civil & Defence Services Pension System, the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Infrastructure, the Group of Ministers on Telecom Matters, the Committee on Civil Aviation Reforms and  the Ministry of Power’s Expert Group on State Electricity Boards.

He has several publications in areas of Indian macroeconomics, monetary policy, public finance, financial sector, international trade, and regulatory economics, the RBI said.

Patel has a PhD in economics from Yale University, an M Phil from University of Oxford and a BSc from the University of London.