Urjit Patel, New Role, New Responsibilities To Drive 2 Trillion USD Indian Economy

Urjit R Patel, the current deputy governor of the RBI,  will become the 24th Governor of RBI on 4th September, succeeding Raghuram Rajan. The 52-year-old Patel, known to be close to Rajan, has studied economics at the University of London. He also holds a PhD in economics from Yale University and an MPhil from Oxford University.

Patel is someone who is well versed with the changing dynamics of Indian economy since early 1990s. Even during the current tenure under Raghuram Rajan, the RBI governor-designate is best-known for preparing a report that helped India shift to an inflation targeting regime for setting interest rates.

 

 

1. Urjit R. Patel, who was born on 28 October 1963 is an Indian economist, consultant and banker, currently serving as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Patel, who will take over on 4 September, is already being hailed as the government’s best bet in keeping a tight lid on inflation, much like from outgoing governor Raghuram Rajan.

 

 

2. Patel’s grandfather had migrated from central Gujarat in the early years of the 20th century to Kenya during the British Raj. His father was born in Kenya, and had established himself in Nairobi as a successful entrepreneur, running a business on spare parts.

 

 

3. The new RBI governor’s educational qualifications do not fail to impress. He completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the London School of Economics, and went on to do an M. Phil from Oxford University in 1986, and a PhD from Yale University in 1990. Born in Kenya, Patel studied in the UK and the US before moving to India. Throughout his education, Patel’s scholarly pursuits were well focused on India.

 

 

4. After finishing his education, Patel worked for IMF desks in the US, India, the Bahamas and Myanmar. Later in 1996, Patel was deputed from the IMF to the RBI, where he played an important role in development of the debt market, banking sector reforms, pension fund reforms, real exchange rate targeting and evolution of the foreign exchange market in India. 

 

 

5. He was also a consultant to the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance between 1998 and 2001.

6. Between 2000 and 2004, Dr. Patel worked closely with several Central and State government high-level committees on a variety of issues, including direct taxes, competition matters, infrastructure, telecom, civil aviation reforms, power, and defence, to name a few.