The government said in a statement, “The appointments committee of the cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Dr Urjit R Patel as Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of three years w.e.f. from 04.9.2016”.
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To be 24th Governor at RBI, Urjit Patel holds a Doctrate in Economics and is an expert on inflation and has also worked closely with Internation Monetary Fund and the Boston Consulting Group. Patel is little known on the conference circuit and has refrained from making major policy speeches while deputy governor.
In recent months, Rajan has come under attack from some quarters, including BJPs Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, for what they call his reluctance to lower interest rates and giving priority to inflation control.
In addition to giving stability to the currency, Dr. Urjit Patel as the Deputy Governor of RBI, has played a pivotal role in the development of new monetary policy framework that has pinpointed at bringing inflation under check.
“The shift to inflation targeting at the beginning of past year has contributed to enhance the credibility and transparency of India’s monetary policy”.
“It was Patel” s idea adopted by the RBI to tackle inflation by moving towards a flexible inflation-targeting regime with a target of 4 within a band of ±2 percent.
Ever since Rajan, in an unprecedented letter to his colleagues in June, said he was opting out of a second term at the helm of India’s central bank, speculation has been rife over who his successor would be – particularly given the outspoken nature of the incumbent and the eyebrows he raised. Under the agreement with the government, the RBI is committed to anchoring retail inflation at 4% (plus/minus 2%) and has set itself a target of 5% to be achieved by next March.
“Apart from continuity, what worked in Patel’s favour is his knowledge of monetary policy”.
The other three members are RBI governor, deputy governor in-charge of monetary policy and an RBI executive director.
“On behalf of Kangra Cooperative Bank I, congratulate the new Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel as well as welcome the decision taken by Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in this regard”.
Industry chamber Ficci hoped that Patel will also ensure continuity of ongoing initiatives at RBI.
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Dr. Patel also brings to the table a decade of experience and expertise in finance, energy and infrastructure as he was associated with The Boston Consulting Group, an global consultancy. Besides, at least five former Governors had served at International Monetary Fund before becoming RBI chief, while a few others went on to work at International Monetary Fund after leaving the central bank.
