Mumbai: Newly- appointed Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra will look after the key monetary policy department along with seven other units, the central bank said after reshuffling portfolios.
Besides the governor, the RBI has four deputy governors looking after different departments.
Patra, who was the executive director, took over the post that was lying vacant since June last year when Viral Acharya resigned.
As executive director, he was a member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI, which is invested with the responsibility of monetary policy decision making in India. He will continue to be an ex-officio member of the MPC as deputy governor.
Patra will also look after Monetary Policy Department including Forecasting and Modelling Unit (MPD/MU), the central bank said in a statement. He is the second insider after SS Tarapore to become deputy governor in charge of monetary policy. Mostly, the position in the past has been given to external economists.
Patra’s other portfolios include Financial Markets Operations Department, Financial Markets Regulation Department including Market Intelligence, International Department, Department of Economic and Policy Research, Department of Statistics and Information Management, Corporate Strategy and Budget Department and Financial Stability Unit.
The RBI further said Deputy Governor NS Vishwanathan will look after departments of co-ordination, regulation, communication, enforcement, inspection, and risk monitoring. He has also been assigned the job of Secretary’s Department.
Ten departments including currency management, information technology, and foreign exchange, had been given to BP Kanungo.
Deputy Governor MK Jain will look after departments of supervision, financial inclusion, human resources, among others.
Patra, a career central banker since 1985, has worked in various positions in RBI.
PTI