The race for the post of RBI Governor has narrowed down to five contenders now. A source in India’s Finance Ministry told BloombergQuint that Arundhati Bhattacharya won’t be granted an extension as the State Bank of India chairperson and neither is she likely to be christened as the Reserve Bank of India Governor.
Going by speculations, six names emerged as potential successors to the charismatic Raghuram Rajan. The prolific list already has former RBI Deputy Governors Subir Gokaran and Rakesh Mohan, and existing RBI Deputy Governor Urjit Patel.
The Modi government’s Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian and Secretary, Economic Affairs in the Finance Ministry Shaktikanta Das are also front runners for the post. The source has also clarified that bureaucrats will be the last choice for the RBI governor portfolio.
Raghuram Rajan is the first RBI governor to not complete the full 5 year term in over two decades. His successor will have to maneuver the Indian economy to a high growth phase while balancing inflation and tackling the building unpaid debt crisis.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)