Former RBI Governor Dr Urjit Patel appointed as Executive Director at IMF for 3 years; here's what we know about him

Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Dr Urjit Patel has been appointed as Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund, the government said in a notification on Thursday, August 28.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Dr Urjit Patel, Economist and Former RBI Governor, to the post of Executive Director (ED) at the International Monetary Fund, for a period of three years with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post, or until further orders, whichever is earlier," the government said.

He would replace KV Subramanian, whose services were terminated by the central government six months ahead of his three-year tenure. The termination took effect on April 30, 2025.

Here's what we know about Dr Urjit Patel

Dr Urjit Patel served as the twenty-fourth Governor of RBI from September 4, 2016, after being Deputy Governor since January 2013. He had succeeded Raghuram Rajan. In 2018, he resigned due to personal reasons.

He had previously served at the IMF as well, according to the RBI website. He was on deputation from the IMF to the Reserve Bank during 1996-1997. In that role, he offered guidance on the development of the debt market, pension fund reforms, banking sector reforms, and the evolution of the foreign exchange market.

He also acted as the consultant to the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) from 1998 to 2001, apart from other assignments in the public and private sectors.

Additionally, he has worked closely with various central and state government high-level committees, including the High Level Expert Group for Reviewing the Civil & Defence Services Pension System, the Task Force on Direct Taxes (Kelkar Committee), the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Infrastructure, the Committee on Civil Aviation Reforms, the Group of Ministers on Telecom Matters and the Ministry of Power’s Expert Group on State Electricity Boards.

Dr Patel has several publications covering Indian macroeconomics, public finance, monetary policy, the Indian financial sector, regulatory economics and international trade.

On the education front, he holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in economics from Yale University, a Master of Philosophy (M. Phil) from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) from the University of London.