Michael Patra appointed RBI deputy governor in place of Viral Acharya

The central government has appointed Michael Debabrata Patra as the new deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of three years. Patra will replace Viral Acharya, who left office on July 23, 2019.

Reports said Patra, who will be one among the four deputy governors, is likely to handle the monetary policy portfolio, which Acharya handled before.

A banker since 1985, Patra has worked in various positions in the RBI. He is currently the executive director of Monetary Policy Department of RBI. Prior to that, he was the principal adviser of the department, since July 2012. He has worked in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as senior adviser to executive director (India) during December 2008 to June 30, 2012, when he actively engaged in the work of the IMF’s Executive Board through the period of the global financial crisis and the ongoing Euro area sovereign debt crisis

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Patra is known for being at the centre of RBI’s views on macro-economy, the new inflation targeting framework and the liquidity framework.

Patra, who did a PhD in economics from IIT-Mumbai, was also a fellow of the Harvard University where he undertook post-doctoral research in the area of financial stability.

Author of the book titled The Global Economic Crisis through an Indian Looking Glass, Patra has numerous papers on inflation, monetary policy, international trade and finance, including exchange rates and the balance of payments to his credit.