Prime Minister Narendra Modi could name his policy adviser, Arvind Panagariya, as the next governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). As per media reports, the government will name the next Reserve Bank of India governor as early as this week, succeeding Raghuram Rajan whose term ends in September.
The TV channels – CNBC Awaaz and ABP News – also said that a formal announcement of the decision was expected soon. Modi’s office declined to comment, but said a decision on the new central bank governor would be made before July 18. Panagariya’s office also refused to comment.
Panagariya, who heads the government’s main economic advisory body NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India), is also India’s Group of 20 summit negotiator. The term of outgoing RBI chief Raghuram Rajan ends in early September. Rajan shocked markets late last month by announcing he would not seek reappointment.
Other leading contenders are former RBI deputy governors Subir Gokarn and Rakesh Mohan. Gokarn is, an Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund, a position also previously held by Mohan.
Pangariya, who is said to have been mentored by noted economist Jagdish Bhagwati, has been a vocal supporter of various economic policies of Narendra Modi, including as Prime Minister and before that as Chief Minister of Gujarat
He is a former Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank and Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland at College Park. He has also worked with the World Bank, IMF and UNCTAD and is PhD in Economics from Princeton University. He is also former chief economist of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and professor of economics at the University of Maryland at College Park.
Arvind Panagariya holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University and is currently a Professor of Economics and the Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
In the past, he has been the Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank. Professor Panagariya has authored more than a fifteen books. His book, Why Growth Matters, ((with Jagdish Bhagwati) has been described by The Economist magazine as “a manifesto for policymakers and analysts.” Professor Panagariya’s scientific papers have appeared in the top economics journals such as the American Economic Review and the Quarterly Journal of Economics while his policy papers have appeared in Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy. He writes a monthly column in the Times of India and his guest columns have appeared in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and India Today. The President of India recently honored Professor Panagariya with Padma Bhushan.