Urjit Patel appointed executive director at IMF for 3-year term: Who is he

Former RBI governor Urjit Patel has been appointed executive director at the IMF for three years. Here's a look at his career and what the role entails

The Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet on Friday approved the appointment of former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel as executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

 

Patel will serve a three-year term from the date he assumes charge, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

 

Who is Urjit Patel?

Urjit Patel, 61, is a seasoned monetary economist with decades of experience in central banking, multilateral institutions, and policy advisory roles. He succeeds to the IMF post at a time when the global economy continues to face challenges of inflation, debt stress, and uneven growth.

 

Early life and academic background

Born in Nairobi, Kenya, on October 28, 1963, Patel’s family traces its roots to Gujarat. He studied economics at the London School of Economics (University of London), earned an MPhil from Oxford University in 1986, and completed his PhD in economics from Yale University in 1990.

 

Urjit Patel's second stint at IMF

This is not Patel’s first stint with the IMF. After completing his doctorate in economics from Yale University in 1990, he joined the organisation and worked on country desks covering the US, India, the Bahamas, and Myanmar.

 

Between 1992 and 1995, he was part of the IMF’s India desk during a crucial transition period following India’s 1991 economic liberalisation. He later went on deputation from the IMF to the RBI, where he advised on banking sector reforms, development of debt markets, pension fund reforms, and exchange rate management.

 

Tenure at the RBI: Demonetisation

In 2016, Patel was appointed as the 24th governor of the RBI, succeeding Raghuram Rajan. He had already been serving as deputy governor since 2013, in charge of monetary policy.

 

As governor, Patel led the central bank during the period of demonetisation, when ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes were withdrawn in November 2016. He also continued the RBI’s inflation-targeting framework, which had been formalised under his leadership of a committee in 2014 that recommended using the consumer price index (CPI), instead of the wholesale price index (WPI), as the policy anchor.

 

However, his tenure was cut short when he resigned in December 2018, citing “personal reasons”. His exit came amid speculations of differences with the government on issues such as interest rate policy and the central bank’s autonomy.

 

Patel's roles beyond RBI

In 2020, Patel was appointed chairman of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), a leading economic think tank. He later served as vice-president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a Beijing-based multilateral development bank where India is the second-largest shareholder. At the AIIB, Patel oversaw investment operations in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. 

Beyond these roles, Patel has also served as a consultant to the Government of India’s Ministry of Finance, worked with the Boston Consulting Group, and held senior positions at Reliance Industries. He has also been a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

 

What Urjit Patel’s IMF role entails

As executive director, Patel will represent India and other countries in his constituency at the IMF’s Executive Board — the institution’s decision-making body responsible for overseeing policy, lending, and governance.