Urjit Patel, advisor at Boston Consulting Group, took over as the Reserve Bank of India’s deputy governor, a fortnight ahead of the central bank’s third quarter policy review.
Patel, a doctorate in economics from Yale University, has been appointed for a period of three years, the RBI said in a release on Monday. Patel will be the fourth deputy governor, the other three being KC Chakrabarty, Anand Sinha and HR Khan.
While details of his portfolio have not been announced, Patel will handle most departments that were earlier under former deputy governor Subir Gokarn.
Gokarn, whose term ended in December, oversaw key departments such as monetary policy, economic analysis and policy, financial markets department and DICGC.
Patel had a stint with the RBI in 1996-97 when he was on deputation from the Internal Monetary Fund. He provided advice on development of the debt market, banking sector reforms, pension fund reforms, real exchange rate targeting and evolution of the foreign exchange market. He was also a consultant to the finance ministry.
Besides these, Patel has also worked in companies such as Reliance Industries and Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited in various capacities.
He was also a part of several high level committees of various ministries.
