Welcoming the appointment of Urjit Patel as RBI governor, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) Secretary Shaktikanta Das today said, “I expect him to maintain credit flow to sectors like MSME & agriculture.” “I am sure that the new governor will adhere to inflation targets” “The job of the RBI governor is not limited to setting rates,” he added. Shaktikanta Das also expressed hope that Patel will balance growth and inflation. MoS Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal has also said he is hopeful that Patel will “control the inflation rate”. “Patel’s experience in monetary policy will help the RBI fight inflation. Patel’s appointment as governor is a step in the right direction,” Meghwal said.
Urjit Patel is currently the deputy governor of the RBI. He took charge in January 2013, and was given extension earlier this year. Currently, Patel is in charge of monetary policy, economic policy research, statistics and information management, deposit insurance, etc. Besides the IMF, Patel worked in government also in the past. Before taking over as the Deputy Governor of RBI in 2013, Patel was Advisor (Energy & Infrastructure) at The Boston Consulting Group. Patel is a PhD in Economics from Yale University and an MPhil from Oxford.
Also read: Urjit Patel, new RBI Governor: Good decision PM Modi; seems Subramanian Swamy will approve too
Meanwhile, in a separate development, it appears that the Modi government may actually look to unveil the next year’s budget as early as January 2017. According to a Finance Ministry official, the government may also scrap the non-plan and plan heads in next fiscal year’s budget. various reports suggest that a group of secretaries have suggested presenting the Budget by January-end and that the change in budget timeline will not affect the financial year.