Chakrabarty gets three-month extension as RBI dy governor

K C Chakrabarty, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has got an extension for three more months. Chakrabarty’s three-year term would otherwise have expired tomorrow. He was appointed in June 2009.

Business Standard had reported earlier that a proposal for a two-year extension was pending approval with the government. A deputy governor of RBI can be appointed for a maximum of five years and the candidate has to be below the age of 60. A deputy governor can serve till the age of 62. Chakrabarty fulfils these requirements.

According to sources, no other candidate’s name has been contemplated at this point in time. The ministry has not constituted a search committee to identify a new candidate. Traditionally, of the four deputy governors of RBI, one is a commercial banker while one is selected from the academic field. The other two are promoted from within RBI.

Chakrabarty was chairman and managing director of the Punjab National Bank and the Indian Bank, both state-owned lenders, before coming to Mint Road. As a deputy governor, Chakrabarty looks after portfolios such as banking supervision, rural planning and development, customer service and human resources, among others.