Inflation warrior Urjit Patel has assumed charge as the 24th Governor of Reserve Bank with several immediate priorities, including clean up of banks and containing inflation without hurting growth.
Patel assumed charge effective September 4, 2016, after serving as deputy governor since January 2013, RBI said in a statement today.
He was reappointed as deputy governor on January 11, 2016, after completion of his first three-year term in office.
File Photo: New RBI governor Urjit Patel.
His immediate task is to contain the inflation as per the glide path suggested by a committee headed by him in the past and to clean up bank balance sheets saddled with bad loans or NPAs.
Ensuring undisruptive redemption totalling USD 20-25 billion, getting used to the idea of Monetary Policy Committee and bank cleanup are the main challenges before the new Governor.
Incidentally it was Urjit Patel who scripted a new framework for fighting price rise that seeks to contain retail inflation at around 4 per cent in the long term.
Besides, Patel should work in a manner that RBI versus Finance Ministry situation is avoided as all the components are working towards inflation control and employment generation and finally what approach he will adopt to clean balance sheet of the bank or strengthen banks.
