Arvind Panagariya could be next RBI governor, say reports

Arvind Panagariya, the policy adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi could be named the successor of Raghuram Rajan as the next Governor of Reserve Bank of India later this week.

It should be noted that Prof Panagariya before joining the NITI Aayog as the Vice Chairman was teaching at the prestigious School of worldwide and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University. TV channels, including CNBC Awaaz and ABP News, reported that a formal announcement of the decision was expected in the next 48 hours.

Among those being talked as possible contenders, 64-year- old Panagariya is also India’s key negotiator at G20 summit and has been Professor of Indian Political Economy at Columbia University.

On June 18, Rajan said he will not serve a second term as RBI head, sparking a war of words in which the Congress accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central Government of hounding him out. While often described as Indian-American, the renowned economist told the Wall Street Journal in 2013 that he “remains an Indian citizen”, albeit a non-resident one – the same charge that Swamy leveled at Rajan.

Panagariya has in the past been the Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank and a Professor of Economics and Co-director, Center for International Economics, University of Maryland at College Park. He is from Rajasthan and has a PhD in Economics from Princeton University. The official said that an announcement is imminent since, the PM Modi will be back in New Delhi on Tuesday morning.

Sources said that the NITI Aayog seems to be in good hands with an energetic CEO, Amitabh Kant.

The others contenders for the post are: State Bank of India (SBI) Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya, RBI Deputy Governor Urjit Patel, former deputy governor Subir Gokarn, economists Rakesh Mohan and Parthasarathi Shome. Rajan will break that chain.