Urjit Patel to take over from Raghuram Rajan as RBI Governor

Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Urjit Patel as the 24th governor of the Reserve Bank of India ending months of speculation about the successor to the high profile Raghuram Rajan, signaling that prudent monetary policy will continue to be the norm calming investors. 

Patel, the 52-year old deputy governor, will have a three year term beginning September like Rajan, and the government said that the for the first time a `systematic approach and an objective mechanism' was put in place for the appointment of the governor. 

Here are ten key facts about the next RBI chief.

1.

Monetary policy expert

Patel is one the four deputy governors at the RBI. He heads the monetary policy department.

2.

Appointed by the Congress

He was appointed by the UPA government in 2013.

3.

Extended term

His term, which was supposed to end this year, was extended by three years in January.

4.

Rajan's trusted collaborator

Reserve bank officials consider him to be incumbent RBI governor Raghuram Rajan's closest lieutenant.

5.

Academic credentials

Patel has an M.Phil from Oxford University, and a PhD (economics) from Yale University.

6.

IMF experience

He worked on the India, US, Myanmar, and Bahamas desks at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1990 to 1995.

7.

RBI advisor

He served as an IMF advisor to the RBI from 1996 to 1997.

8.

Consultant to the Finance ministry

Patel also worked as an consultant with the Department of Economic Affairs of India's Ministry of Finance from 1998 to 2001.

9.

Other professional experience

Before his 2013 RBI appointment, he was an advisor to the Boston Consulting Group, an American think-tank.

10.

A landmark reform

A committee headed by Urjit Patel recommended shifting the focus away from wholesale prices, and targeting consumer inflation with an aim to check volatile prices. In March last year, the Reserve Bank and the Ministry of Finance - headed by Arun Jaitley - agreed on a consumer inflation target of 4 percent, with a leeway of 2 percent more or less, by the financial year 2016-2017. The decision to use inflation-targeting is considered to be one of the most important changes to monetary policy since the 1991 reforms.