India names Urjit Patel as next RBI governor - PMO

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's government promoted Urjit Patel, a deputy governor in charge of monetary policy at the Reserve Bank of India, to serve as its next governor for a three-year term, it said on Saturday.

Patel will replace Raghuram Rajan, a former International Monetary Fund chief economist who stunned financial markets in June by announcing he would step down in September and return to academia after a single three-year term at the RBI.

Patel, 52, headed a panel that recommended landmark changes to monetary policy in India, including a switch to inflation-targeting and the adoption of a panel to set interest rates.

 

(Reporting by India Newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill and Douglas Busvine)