Who Is Urjit Patel? From RBI to IMF, A New Chapter for the Economist

Urijit Patel, the 52-year-old economist and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been appointed as the Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a government statement said on Friday.

Who Is Urijit Patel?

Patel was named a deputy governor of the central bank in January 2013 by the UPA government.

In 2014, Patel headed the committee which had suggested that the central bank should target consumer price index (CPI), and not wholesale price index (WPI) as the policy peg.

He has obtained a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the London School of Economics in 1963 and an M.Phil. from Oxford University 1986.He received his doctorate in Economics from Yale University in 1990.

He was also at the IMF India desk during the 1991-1994 transition period. He was posted to IMF country mission in India 1992-1995. He has also been a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution since 2009.

After Patel obtained his PhD he joined the IMF in 1990 and worked on the USA, India, Bahamas and Myanmar desks at IMF till 1995.

After this he went on deputation from the IMF to the RBI, where he played an advisory role in the development of the debt market, banking sector reforms, targeting of real exchange rate. After the two-year deputation with RBI, Patel became a Consultant to the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs - a position which he had held from 1998 to 2001.

Between 2000 and 2004, Dr. Patel worked with several High Level Committees at both Central and State Government level, including Competition Commission, Task Force on Direct Taxes, Prime Minister’s Task Force on Infrastructure, Group of Ministers on Telecom Matters, Advisory Committee on Research Projects and Market Studies, Committee on Civil Aviation Reforms, Expert Group on State Electricity Boards and High Level Expert Group on Civil & Defence Services Pension System.

Among some of the important positions he held are :

• Advisor, Boston Consulting Group
• President, Reliance Industries Limited- 2015
• Executive Director, Infrastructure Development Finance Company (1997-2006)
• Member, Integrated Energy Policy Committee, Government of India (2004-2006)
• Non-Executive Director, Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Limited.
• Non-Executive Director, Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited
• Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India
• Governor, Reserve Bank of India (From 4th September, 2016)

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