The centre has appointed Michael Debabrata Patra as the new deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The appointment of Patra, who is currently an executive director at the central bank, is made nearly six months after former deputy governor Viral Acharya’s opted for a pre-mature resignation.
Patra tenure as the deputy governor for the central bank will be valid for three years from the time of his appointment. The date of Patra’s appointment has not been finalized yet.
The apex bank currently has three deputy governors–NS Vishwanathan, BP Kanungo and MK Jain. Patra will be the fourth among the deputy governors. Shaktikanta Das is the governor of RBI.
Acharya had resigned from in July 2019, six months before the end of his tenure.
Patra is most likely to retain the monetary policy department, which was earlier handled by Viral V Acharya, as the deputy governor.
Patra had voted in favour of rate cuts in the last three policies. He also pitched for a fiscal support to the economy in the midst of the slowdown in the June meeting. “At this juncture: monetary policy by itself cannot bring about a reinvigoration of economic activity. Monetary policy is taking the lead as the first line of defence, but a coordinated full-throttle effort by all arms of macroeconomic management is the need of the hour,” he said, according to a Bloomberg report.
