Urjit R Patel appointed as 24th Governor of Reserve Bank of India

Union Government on 20 August 2016 appointed Dr. Urjit R Patel as the 24th governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He will be having tenure of three years with effect from 4 September 2016.

He will succeed the present RBI Governor Dr. Raghuram Rajan, the former International Monetary Fund chief economist.

At present, Dr Patel is the Deputy Governor of RBI and is holding this assignment since 2013. With this appointment, he also becomes the eight Deputy Governor to be elevated as the Governor at RBI.

Dr. Urjit R Patel

• He headed a panel that recommended landmark changes to monetary policy in India, which included a switch to inflation-targeting and the creation of a panel to set interest rates.

• In January 2016, he was reappointed as the deputy governor in charge of monetary policy, the department he ran since 2013.

• Earlier between 1990 and 1995, he had worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) covering US, India, Bahamas and Myanmar.

• He carried a doctorate from Yale University.

• He also carries M Phil from Oxford.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

• RBI was established on 1 April 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

• The Central Office of the Reserve Bank was initially established in Calcutta but was permanently moved to Mumbai in 1937.

• At present, it regulates banks, prints money and prevents volatility in the foreign exchange market. It is also the government’s banker and lender of last resort.

Now get latest Current Affairs on mobile, Download # 1  Current Affairs App