Chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian resigns, to return to US due to ‘pressing family commitments’

New Delhi: Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian will be leaving the finance ministry because of "pressing family commitments" and will return to the US.

"Few days ago Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian met me over video conferencing. He informed me that he would like to go back to the United States on account of pressing family commitments. His reasons were personal but extremely important for him. He left me with no option but to agree with him," Jaitley wrote in a Facebook post.

Jaitley also thanked Subramanian for his contribution to macro economic management of Indian economy.

"Personally I will miss his dynamism, energy, intellectual ability and ideas. He would walk into my room - at times several times a day, addressing me as Minister to give either the good news or otherwise. Needless to say his departure will be missed by me. But I know that his heart is very much here. I am sure he will keep sending advice and analysis wherever he is," he wrote.

Below is the full text of FM Jaitley's Facebook post:

Subramanian was appointed as CEA to the finance ministry on October 16, 2014 for a period of three years. In 2017 his term was extended for a year.

The CEA is usually the main go-to person for advice for the finance minister on macro-economic matters, and primary responsibilities, among others, include authoring the mid-year analysis and the Economic Survey.

Subramanian's predecessor was Raghuram Rajan, who quit the position in September 2013 after being appointed the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Subramanian graduated from St Stephen's College, Delhi, and got an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He obtained M.Phil and D.Phil from the University of Oxford, UK.

With Agency Inputs