Appreciating the “good work” by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday announced that a successor would be named soon.
There are seven contenders to take the reign of RBI when Rajan’s term ends in September. According to areport by Reuters, Vijay Kelkar, Rakesh Mohan, Ashok Lahiri, Urjit Patel, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Subir Gokarn and Ashok Chawla are in the race to replace Rajan.
Urjit Patel is currently serving as a deputy governor of the RBI and Arundhati Bhattacharya is chair of India’s largest public sector bank, State Bank of India.
After announcement by Rajan that he would not continue at RBI after his term ends on September 4, Jaitley wrote on micro-blogging website Twitter, “Dr Raghuram Rajan has announced his intention to go back to academics at the end of his current assignment.”
“The Government appreciates the good work done by him and respects his decision. A decision on his successor would be announced shortly,” he added.
In a letter to his colleagues at RBI, Rajan on Saturday said that he will not continue in office and will go back to academia in the United States when his term ends.
