Urjit Patel resigns as RBI Governor

New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel resigned from his post with immediate effect citing 'personal reasons'.

Patel was appointed the 24th Governor of the RBI on September, 2016 for a three-year term. His term as RBI governor was to end in September 2019.

“On account of personal reasons, I have decided to step down from my current position effective immediately. It has been my privilege and honour to serve in the Reserve Bank of India in various capacities over the years, Patel said in a statement.

“The support and hard work of RBI staff, officers and management has been the proximate driver of the Bank’s considerable accomplishments in recent years. I take this opportunity to express gratitude to my colleagues and Directors of the RBI Central Board , and wish them all the best for the future,” he added.

Patel, whose experience includes a mix of stints with multilateral institutions, bureaucracy, central bank, global consultancies and even private companies, has previously served the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the US, India, Bahamas and Myanmar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the RBI governor will be immensely missed. In a series of tweets the PM wrote, “Dr. Urjit Patel is a thorough professional with impeccable integrity. He has been in the Reserve Bank of India for about 6 years as Deputy Governor and Governor. He leaves behind a great legacy. We will miss him immensely.”

“Dr Urjit Patel is an economist of a very high calibre with a deep and insightful understanding of macro-economic issues. He steered the banking system from chaos to order and ensured discipline. Under his leadership, the RBI brought financial stability,” he added.

Acknowledging Patel's stint as RBI Governor, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that it was a  'pleasure' for him to deal with Patel and 'benefit from his scholarship'

“The Government acknowledges with deep sense of appreciation the services rendered by Dr. Urjit Patel to this country both in his capacity as the Governor and the Deputy Governor of The RBI. It was a pleasure for me to deal with him and benefit from his scholarship. I wish Dr. Patel all the very best and many more years of public service,” Jaitley tweeted.

Prior to taking the helm at RBI  he was a Deputy Governor overseeing the monetary policy department at the RBI under Rajan and was known as his 'inflation-warrior'.

“I think Dr Patel has made a statement. I think this is the ultimate statement a regulator or a civil servant can make. I think his statement should be respected. We should go into the details on why there was an impasse which forced him to take this ultimate decision and I think this is something all Indians should be concerned about because the strength of our institution is really important …", news Agency Reuters quoting Raghuram Rajan said.

Meanwhile, RBI board member S Gurumurthy expressed shock over Patel's resignation. He tweeted, “Surprised at the news that RBI governor has resigned. The previous meeting was held in such cordial atmosphere that it comes as a shock. All directors said media had created a wrong perception while inside it was totally different. That makes it even more surprising.”

“I enjoyed several hours of personal discussions with him where we found large areas of agreement as well as mutually understandable disagreement. His resignation is indeed set back to the effects of the convergence of views that was taking place. We will miss him,” he added.

With Agency Inputs