Raghuram Rajan took over as the Chief Economic Advisor of in Union Finance Ministry

Raghuram Rajan, former chief economist of International Monetary Fund (IMF) took over as the Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry on 29 August 2012. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet had cleared the appointment of Rajan as the new CEA on 10 August 2012. The position was lying vacant since Kaushik Basu demitted the office on 31 July 2012.

Raghuram Rajan has already been serving as the ‘Honorary Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister’, the position he was given in November 2008. He also headed High Level Committee on Financial Sector Reforms in 2007.

Born on 3 February 1963 in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajan obtained his bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Later, he studied at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad followed by a PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1991 with a thesis entitled "Essays on Banking."

A Professor of Finance at the Booth School of Business of University of Chicago, Rajan also served as the "Economic Counselor and Director of Research" (Chief Economist) at the International Monetary Fund from September 2003 until January 2007