Urjit Patel

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (July 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Urjit Patel
Chairman of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 June 2020
24th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
In office 4 September 2016 – 10 December 2018
Preceded by	Raghuram Rajan
Succeeded by	Shaktikanta Das
Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India
In office 11 January 2013 - 4 September 2016
Governor	Duvvuri Subbarao Raghuram Rajan
Succeeded by	Viral Acharya
Personal details
Born	Urjit Ravindra Patel (1963-10-28) 28 October 1963 (age 57) Nairobi, Kenya
Alma mater	University of London (BSc) Linacre College, Oxford (M.Phil.) Yale University (Ph.D.)
Profession	Economist
Signature

Urjit Patel (born 28 October 1963) is an Indian economist, who served as the 24th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from 4 September 2016 to 10 December 2018. Previously, as an RBI Deputy Governor appointed by the UPA government, he looked after monetary policy, economic research, financial markets, statistics and information management. Appointed by the NDA government, Patel succeeded Raghuram Rajan as RBI governor on 4 September 2016. He resigned from his post on 10 December 2018, being the first RBI governor to state personal reasons as a driving factor for resigning. He is the fifth RBI governor to have resigned from his post before his term ended in September 2019.

Early life and education[]

Urjit Patel was born in Nairobi on 28 October 1963 to Manjula and Ravindra Patel.^[1][2] His grandfather had migrated from Mahudha village in Kheda district, Gujarat to Kenya in the 20th century. His father ran Rexo Products Ltd, a chemical factory in Nairobi.

He studied in Nairobi at Jamhuri High School, and prior to that the Gujarati community-run Visa Oshwal Primary School. He also studied at Loughborough Technical College. He studied at Queen Mary University of London and was awarded Bachelor of Science degree in 1984. He obtained an M. Phil. degree from University of Oxford in 1986. He was conferred a Ph. D. in economics from Yale University in 1990. He was at IMF India Desk during the 1991–94 transition period.^[2]

Professional career[]

After obtaining his Ph.D., Patel joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1990, where he worked on the US, India, Bahamas and Myanmar desks till 1995. Thereafter he went on deputation from the IMF to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), where he played an advisory role in the development of the debt market, banking sector reforms, pension fund reforms, and targeting of real exchange rate.

Between 2000 and 2004, Patel worked with several High-Level Committees at both Central and State Government levels:

• Task Force on Direct Taxes
• Prime Minister's Task Force on Infrastructure
• Group of Ministers on Telecom Matters
• Committee on Civil Aviation Reforms
• Expert Group on State Electricity Boards
• High-Level Expert Group on Civil and Defence Services Pension System
• Competition Commission of India

On 11 January 2013, Patel was appointed as Deputy Governor of RBI for a period of three years; he was appointed for another three-year term in January 2016^[1]

On 20 August 2016, he was appointed as the governor of Reserve Bank Of India (RBI). During his tenure, the Government of India demonetised the ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series, with the stated intention of curbing corruption, black money, fake currency and terrorism from 9 November 2016.^[3]

On 10 December 2018 at 17:15 hrs IST, Urjit Patel resigned from the post of Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) effective immediately.

Controversies[]

Although Patel cited personal reasons for resigning from RBI, experts have opined that he was forced to exit because of serious differences with the Government of India. The latter wanted more money from RBI to fund its fiscal deficit, which Patel did not agree to, citing requirement for long term financial stability.^[4] In August 2019 Nitin Gadkari fueled the controversy when he stated that he had advised the Union Finance Minister to "throw out" the RBI Governor because the latter was inflexible and adamant. ^[5]

Important positions[]

• Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution, Washington D. C. (2009-2012)
• Advisor, Boston Consulting Group
• President (Business Development), Reliance Industries (2007-2011)^[6][7]
• Executive Director, Infrastructure Development Finance Company (1997-2006)
• Member, Integrated Energy Policy Committee, Government of India (2004-2006)
• Non-Executive Director, Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation
• Non-Executive Director, Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited
• Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (11 January 2013 - 3 September 2016)
• Governor, Reserve Bank of India (4 September 2016 - 10 December 2018)

Books and Papers[]

Some of Urjit Patel's publications include:

"Overdraft: Saving the Indian Saver", published by HarperCollins (2020)

"Challenges of Effective Monetary Policy in Emerging Economies”, in Monetary Policy in India: A Modern Macroeconomic Perspective, editors: Chetan Ghate and Kenneth M. Kletzer. Springer. (with Amartya Lahiri) (2016)

"Fiscal Rules in India: Are They effective?”. In Chetan Ghate (ed), The Handbook of the Indian Economy, Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York. (with Willem H. Buiter) (2012)

"Dynamics of Inflation ‘herding’: Decoding India’s inflationary process”, Brookings Institution Global Working Paper # 48. (with Gangadhar Darbha) (2012)

"Does the exuberance in the Indian power sector have legs?”, Brookings Institution Global Working Paper # 45. (with Saugata Bhattacharya) (2011)

"Infrastructure in India: The Economics of Transition from Public to Private Provision”. Journal of Comparative Economics vol. 38, pp. 52-70. China-India symposium. (with Saugata Bhattacharya) (2010)

"Decarbonisation strategies: How much, how, where and who pays for ∆ ≤ 2°C?”, Brookings Institution Global Working Paper # 39. (2010)

Excessive Budget Deficits, a Government-Abused Financial System, and Fiscal Rules”, India Policy Forum vol. 2. pp. 1-54. Brookings Institution-NCAER. (with Willem H. Buiter) (2006)

"Exchange Rate Policy” in Encyclopaedia of India. 2006. Edited by Stanley Wolpert. Thomson-Gale/Scribner. (with Devesh Kapur) (2006)

"The Financial Leverage Coefficient: Macroeconomic Implications of Government Involvement in Intermediation”, Working Paper No. 157, Centre for Research on Economic Development and Policy Reform, Stanford University. (with Saugata Bhattacharya) (2003)

"Large Foreign Currency Reserves: Insurance for Domestic Weaknesses and External Uncertainties?”, Economic and Political Weekly. (with Devesh Kapur) (2003)

"International Trade and Internal Organisation”, Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation. (2000)

"Aspects of Pension Fund Reform: Lessons for India”, Economic and Political Weekly. (1997)

"Macroeconomic Policy and Output Co-movement: The Formal and Informal Sectors in India”, World Development. (with Pradeep Srivastava) (1996)

"Optimal Policies in a Dynamic Oligopoly Model of International Trade”, Economics Letters.(1994)

"Debt, Deficits and Inflation: An Application to the Public Finances of India”, Journal of Public Economics. (with Willem H. Buiter) (1992)

Awards[]

1. Recipient of the Wilbur Cross Medal, Yale University, October 2019. Citation from Dean's letter: "This award not only recognizes your work as the twenty-fourth Governor of The Reserve Bank of India, it is a testament to your achievements in public service and your many contributions to scholarship".
2. Elected Honorary Fellow, Linacre College, University of Oxford 2019.

References[]