Former RBI Governor Urjit Patel to be new IMF Executive Director
Former Reserve Bank of India Governor, Urjit Patel
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PAUL NORONHA
The government has appointed former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Urjit Patel as new Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund, according to a notification by the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet.
“His term will be for a period of 3 years from the date of assumption of charge of the post, or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” the notification said. He will replace K V Subramanian, whose term was cut short earlier this year.
The decision of ACC surprises many as in December 2018, Patel stepped down as RBI Governor, about nine months ahead of the completion of his three-year term. It was believed that he quit because of a reported major rift between the government and the central bank. It was only the second time since Independence that a sitting RBI Governor quit. The previous one to do so was Sir Benegal Rama Rau, who resigned before his second extended tenure expired due to differences with the then Finance Minister.
While Patel cited ‘personal reasons’ for his decision, the resignation followed feuds between the RBI and the government on a host of issues including those relating to central bank autonomy, transferring RBI’s excess reserves to the government and relaxing the Restrictive Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework for 11 state-owned banks. The government had invoked the never-before-used Section 7 of the RBI Act to seek consultation on some of these issues when it found the RBI top brass not inclined to look into them.
A man of few words, Patel, under whose watch the NDA’s government’s demonetisation exercise was carried out, was elevated as RBI Governor (after Rajan demitted office) on September 4, 2016 after serving as Deputy Governor since January 2013.
Patel served as the 24th governor of the Reserve Bank of India. During his tenure he was director of Bank for International Settlements and member of the Advisory Board of the Financial Stability Institute. Before his governorship he was the deputy governor in charge of monetary policy and chaired a committee on strengthening monetary policy. From 2013 to 2018 he was principal/deputy in the G-20 and BRICS Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ groups. Earlier, he worked with Reliance Industries and Infrastructure Development Finance Company. He began his career as an economist with the International Monetary Fund. He has been a consultant to the Indian Ministry of Finance, and a non-resident senior fellow of Brookings Institution.
Patel will take the place of K V Subramanian, who had to leave six months before his tenure was to end due to a government order dated April 30, 2025 which stated that “ACC approved termination of Dr Krishnamurthy Subramanian as Executive Director (India) at the International Monetary Fund with immediate effect.” Subramanian joined the multilateral agency in November 2022.
Although no official reason was given, sources said that his criticism of the IMF’s data mechanism did not go well with the multilateral agency. The agency was also not very happy with his working style. Later, principal opposition party, Congress claimed the Narendra Modi government abruptly terminated Subramanian’s tenure due to “embarrassing details” that had emerged in the public domain and “impropriety” committed by him.
Published on August 29, 2025
