A government appointed panel will interview candidates next month for the post of Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India as the term of Urjit Patel, the central bank’s incumbent in charge of monetary policy, expires in January
Mr. Patel, 52, was appointed for a three-year term by the previous United Progressive Alliance government and took charge in January 2013.
Two of the RBI’s Executive Directors, Michael D Patra and Deepak Mohanty, have been called for the interview, apart from Mr. Patel, who is eligible for reappointment, according to banking industry sources who did not wish to be named as the information is confidential.
A central bank Deputy Governor can be appointed for a term with a maximum of five years or till the age of 62, whichever is earlier. Some other candidates will also be interviewed, the sources said. Apart from the all important monetary policy portfolio, Mr. Patel is also in-charge of the economic and policy research department.
Mr. Patra replaced Mr. Mohanty as the Executive Director in-charge of monetary policy in October 2014 and also looks after economic policy and research, and the communications department. Mr. Mohanty was handed oversight of the Financial Stability Unit and risk management during last year’s reshuffle, apart from the inspection department.
The RBI has provision for 12 Executive Directors, which was increased from nine following the appointment of three new officials in 2014.
The RBI has four deputy governors and typically two are from the outside, of which traditionally one is a commercial banker and the other an economist.
The two others are promoted from within the central bank’s ranks. Currently, the other three deputy governors are H.R. Khan, R. Gandhi, both career central bankers, and S.S. Mundra, a commercial banker Mr. Patel’s immediate predecessors in the monetary policy oversight role were Subir Gokarn and Rakesh Mohan.
In the past when a Deputy Governor was re-appointed, interviews were not conducted.
Mr. Patel, who was an Advisor (Energy & Infrastructure) with The Boston Consulting Group before joining the RBI, headed the important committee to review the structure of the monetary policy that was set up by central bank governor Raghuram Rajan. The Patel committee came up with radical proposals including setting up of a monetary policy committee which will be accountable for ensuring the inflation target was met. Most of the recommendations have been accepted by the central bank and the government.
Following the Patel committee’s recommendations, the government and the central bank entered into an agreement to reach a particular level of inflation within a specified timeframe.
