Govt names demonetisation-backer Krishnamurthy Subramanian as CEA

The government Friday appointed a new chief economic adviser in US-trained professor Krishnamurthy Subramanian - a widely known banking expert who had supported November 2016 shock demonetisation.

A PhD from University of Chicago's Booth School of Business and currently an associate professor at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, Subramanian will replace economist Arvind Subramanian, who resigned from the post in June this year and left the country shortly thereafter.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved for the appointment of Dr Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Associate Prof. and ED (CAF), ISB, Hyderabad, to the post of Chief Economic Adviser," said a government notification.

His appointment will be for a period of three years, it said.

Krishnamurthy Subramanian has been a part of expert committees on corporate governance for market regulator SEBI and on governance of banks for the Reserve Bank of India.

He had hailed the BJP-led NDA government's 2016 budget as a budget for rural India, calling it a 'budget for Bharat'. In an article he co-authored for the Mint newspaper on November 23, 2016, he had backed the junking of 86 per cent of currency notes. The article titled 'Demonetisation: Are the poor really suffering?', he argued that "politicians advocating the difficulties faced by the poor are being disingenuous in pushing their claims for political gains."
After BJP won the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, he on March 11, 2017, had referred to this article to say: "UP outcome proves my prognosis that reports of poor suffering were either incorrect or politically motivated."
Writing an article under the heading 'Attacking our heroes: Raghuram Rajan played a spectacular inning but was phased out nevertheless' for The Times of India on June 23, 2016, he wrote: "In this country, we just don't know how to treat our heroes well. Sometimes we deify them. But, often and in particular when it really matters the most, we trash them by questioning their motives. Because their exemplary accomplishments cannot be disputed, the vested interests hit below the belt by questioning our heroes' motives."
"Only those who have worked with RGR know his devotion to his motherland and can appreciate the sacrifices he has made to get an opportunity to contribute to this country."