RACE FOR RBI GUV NARROWS TO GOKARN, PANAGARIYA

NEWDELHI: The new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor will be named soon, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi back from his four-nation tour of South Africa, a top government source said, adding, the race has narrowed down to two candidates -- Subir Gokarn and Arvind Panagariya.

“The announcement is expected in the next couple of days… it is important to end the uncertainty,” a senior finance ministry official told HT.

“The successor has already been decided, it is the announcement that has to be made. And it will be done before Parliament begins,” the government source quoted above said.

The choice for the RBI governor’s post has been the subject of intense debate ever since Raghuram Rajan announced his intention not to seek a second term after September. A number of names have been doing the rounds, including SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya, RBI deputy governor Urjit Patel, former deputy governors Subir Gokarn and Rakesh Mohan, former economic adviser Kaushik Basu, tax expert Parthasarathi Shome, chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian and economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das.

The latest to join the list is NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya. An economics professor at the Columbia University, Panagariya is an admirer of the “Gujarat model” of development, and his views on the economy are considered similar to that of Modi’s.

“The preference is for someone who has global acceptance as an economist and has served the Indian government in some capacity,” sources told HT.

Gokarn is currently the executive director on the board of the International Monetary Fund. He represents India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.