Urjit Patel to oversee RBI’s monetary policy department among other functions

Urjit Patel to oversee RBI’s monetary policy department among other functionsNewly appointed Deputy Governor Urjit Patel will oversee the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy department and communication, statistics & information management departments among other functions, the central bank announced.

Renowned economist Mr. Patel, 49, took charge as deputy governor of the RBI on Monday, just around two weeks prior to a crucial monetary policy review.

Mr. Patel replaced Subir Gokarn, whose term as a deputy governor came to an end on 31st of December. The new deputy governor has been appointed for a three-year term starting 11th of January, 2013.

He is a Ph. D. in economics from Yale University and M. Phil from Oxford. He has been a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution since the year 2009.

Previous to his appointment as the Deputy Governor at the RBI, Mr. Patel was serving the Boston Consulting Group as Energy & Infrastructure Advisor.

Between 1990 and 1995, he served International Monetary Fund (IMF) and worked on the U. S., Bahamas, Myanmar and India desks. He served the ministry of finance, New Delhi, as a consultant from 1998 to 2001.

This is Mr. Patel's second stint at the RBI. Previously (1996-1997), he was on deputation from the IMF and advised the central bank on development of the debt market, evolution of the foreign exchange market, pension fund reforms, real exchange rate targeting and banking sector reforms.