Montek, Mohan in race for RBI top post

With the five-year term of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Y V Reddy coming to an end soon, names of his deputy Rakesh Mohan and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia are emerging as potential successors, a media report said here.

Reddy, whose term is ending in the first week of September, presented the central bank’s monetary policy review on Tuesday — which could probably be the last in his tenure unless he gets an extension.

“Speculation is gathering in Indian financial circles over who will be the next head of the central bank in Asia’s second largest fast-growing economy,” Financial Times (FT) reported.

The report quoted an unnamed source within the government as saying that the rumoured potential candidates included Rakesh Mohan, one of Reddy’s deputies, and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Alhuwalia.

“Rakesh Mohan would bring plenty of experience in government and RBI to the job. The Princeton- and Yale-educated bureaucrat is doing his second stint as a deputy governor after stints at the finance ministry,” it said.

About Ahluwalia, the report said his appointment could prove “more controversial.”

Reports have suggested that the government may not extend Reddy’s term beyond early September, though there is no official word on it.