India / M Rajeshwar Rao appointed as Deputy Governor of RBI

Zoom News : Oct 08, 2020, 09:51 AM
Mumbai: The central government on Wednesday has appointed M Rajeshwar Rao as deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, it said in a notification. He is currently the executive director of RBI. The Appointment Committee of the Union cabinet has approved the appointment, the notification stated. Rao succeed NS Vishwanathan as the fourth deputy governor.

He has been associated with the Reserve Bank since 1984, holding various positions. He took charge as an executive director of the central bank in 2016. At present, he is in charge of the internal debt management, financial markets operations, international and secretarial departments at the central bank. Prior to taking over this position, Rao was the chief general manager, financial markets operations department. He has previously held charge of the risk monitoring department. His vast experience makes him a front runner for the post.

He has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Master of Business Administration from University of Cochin. He is also a Certificated Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers.

Rao has experience of working as the Banking Ombudsman in New Delhi and in the Reserve Bank’s regional offices at Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai and New Delhi.

The central government on Tuesday appointed three external members Ashima Goyal, Jayanth R Varma and Shashanka Bhide to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI. The MPC of the RBI on Wednesday has started its three-day deliberations. There is a consensus that the central bank will maintain status quo on the benchmark lending rates in the view of inflation, scheduled to be announced on 9 October.

Rahul Gupta, head of research- currency, Emkay Global Financial Services said, "We expect the central bank to maintain a status quo on the back of rising inflation. The focus will be on growth projections, as since February 2020, the RBI has not given a solid economic projection."

"This meeting of the MPC is the first with the new government nominees on the Committee. Considering that this is their first meeting and with the inflation consistently above 6, they are expected to retain the policy rates," said Divakar Vijayasarathy, founder and managing partner, DVS Advisors LLP.

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