RBI's Patra, IMF's Kochhar likely candidates for Dy governorship

The widely expected policy continuity when Urjit Patel takes over as governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will reflect in the new team he will put together.

For Patel, being part of RBI means having a ready working arrangement with those at the helm, be it monetary policy or banking supervision and regulation. Senior RBI executives said as a colleague has been elevated, there was a high chance of continuity.

The RBI governor can select his team. But the continuity factor, touted as the reason for Patel being made the head of the central bank, would weigh on his mind while selecting a team, an official said.

First, a replacement for Patel has to be found. The name of the chief of the monetary policy department, Executive Director Michael Patra, is doing the rounds. Patra fits the government's preference for people who can work quietly without making waves. The other name doing the rounds is that of Kalpana Kochhar, a senior economist with the International Monetary Fund. Between 2012 and 2014, she was deputy director in the strategy, policy and review department. Between 2010 and 2012, she was the chief economist for the South Asia Region of the World Bank.

A senior public sector bank executive said given the close engagement with banks to clean up their books by March 2017, the priority would be to stay on course than experiment.