Govt hopes Patel will ‘rise to occasion’, curb inflation

Urjit Patel competent economist, says Jaitley

The government on Monday hoped that Governordesignate Urjit Patel will "rise to the occasion" and use his experience of handling monetary policy at RBI to maintain a balance between inflation and economic growth. Patel, who is currently Deputy Governor at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will take over the top job at the central bank when incumbent Raghuram Rajan demits office on September 4 after completing his term. "He (Patel) will hopefully control inflation rate since he has experience of monetary policy," Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal told reporters here. He further said, "Patel's appointment is a right decision New Delhi: Calling Urjit Patel a "competent economist", Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday expressed hope that as the next RBI Governor he will be able to contain inflation and contribute in country's economic growth. The government has named Patel to succeed Raghuram Rajan as the next Reserve Bank of India Governor for a threeyear period. He will replace Rajan on September 4. "Dr Patel is a competent economist, a monetary economist. He has worked in various capacities in RBI. I believe that he will be able to contain inflation with Monetary Policy Committee to assist him. He also contribute to country's economic progress," Jaitley told TV news channel 'Aaj Tak'.Patel has been holding charge of the monetary policy decisions of the central bank. The government has notified monetary policy framework agreement under which RBI will target to contain inflation at 4 per cent with an upper and lower tolerance band of 2 per cent. The six-member monetary policy committee will decide on interest rates based on this inflation target. On Rajan, Jaitley said there were no differences between the outgoing Governor and the government, and the relations were cordial. The Finance Minister said Rajan has done his job well.

and in the interest of the country." Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, who himself was said to be in fray for the top post at the apex bank, welcomed the appointment of Patel as

the 24th RBI Governor. "With his background in monetary economics, monetary polities and his background in other fields, I am sure he will rise to the occasion and he will keep in mind the requirements of monetary policy and the inflation target that has now been laid out in the RBI Act," he said. The government has set an inflation target of 4 per cent, plus or minus 2 per cent, while consumer price inflation soared to 6.07 per cent in July, reports PTI. RBI's next monetary policy review is due on October 4. "...he will also balance the requirement of growth which is in fact the mandate as per the amended RBI Act," Das said. Stating that the job of the RBI governor is not just monetary policy, Das said the central bank head is also the regulator of banks and NBFCs. "In that role he has to ensure smooth functioning of financial sector and he also has to look into flow of credit to various sectors in particular the requirement of agriculture and MSME sectors," he said. Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar hoped that Patel will do well as the RBI governor. "I believe Patel will take the economy in the right direction. Even though he is less experienced, I think he will do the job well," said.