New Delhi: As soon as PM Modi learnt RBI governor Urijit Patel has announced his resignation just a day before the results of five assembly elections were to be announced, it has Modiji into action drive who immediately got into action to shortlist the candidates best suited to be the next governor.
A source close to the developments confirmed the government had no prior information on governor’s plans on resigning, neither the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) nor the Finance Ministry was informed either.
The Modi Government is now planning to have a bureaucrat as the next RBI governor rather than choosing an economist after the exit of two economist governors (Raghuram Rajan and Urjit Patel) during the Modi government’s tenure, BS reports.
“They will try to avoid somebody too closely aligned with the government.
They have to play to the markets. Having a bureaucrat as governor would at least mean a modicum of neutrality,” a former bureaucrat said adding that “the next RBI governor will be appointed as soon as possible.”
The list of probable candidates include 1984 batch IAS from Jharkhand cadre Rajiv Kumar, who’s now secretary, Department of Financial Services, former finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia, former economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das, current economic affairs secretary Subhash Garg, former RBI deputy governor Subir Gokarn and Ashok Lahiri Finance Commission member.