Ending the speculation, as who will be the successor of Raghuram Rajan the government has finally announced that Urjit Patel will take over as the 24th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Patel was serving as the deputy governor incharge of the monetary policy department. Here is brief profile of the man who is seen as a close lieutenant to Raghuram Rajan.
- Patel did BA from the London School of Economics. He has a PhD from the prestigious Yale University. He is also an alumnus of Oxford University. He started his career at the International Monetary Fund, in the early 1990s. He had also worked as an adviser for energy and infrastructure at the Boston Consulting Group.
- Patel is known as a close co-worker of Raghuram Rajan but lacks the rock-star status which Rajan enjoyed.
- Patel’s policies are similar to Rajan and he is seen as a ‘hawk’ on his monetary policy stance. His appointment will give message to the investors that government believes in continuity when it comes to monetary policy.
- From 1998 till 2001, he served as a Consultant to the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs. He had also worked as a President of Reliance Industries Limited
- Patel earlier had faced criticism for keeping liquidity tight at a time when the RBI was lowering rates. Patel is considered as the monetary policy expert.
- In 2013 he was appointed by UPA government as a deputy governor of RBI
