Manic Monday! Urjit Patel quits, PM Narendra Modi reacts to resignation
Monday evening has stirred a fire at India's apex bank RBI, where Governor Urjit Patel has quit his post. Urjit Patel has decided to end his tenure as RBI governor in a little over two years' time - he has not even completed his tenure. Patel says his reason for quitting are personal, however, with the way the relationship with the NDA government had frayed over the recent weeks, it was only a matter of time for the shock wave to hit India. Interestingly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has took to his Twitter account, and did not shy away in talking about Urjit Patel. Modi tweeted with high praise for Patel. Modi called Dr Urjit Patel as a thorough professional with impeccable integrity.
Notably, today was a double whammy day for India. The first blow was when the Sensex crashed and closed 714 points down. Within a few hours, this was followed by the second shock in the form of Urjit Patel resignation. STock markets were reacting to exit polls, which have thrown up uncertain results in the states that just went to election including Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Modi said, "Dr Urjit Patel is an economist of a very high calibre with a deep and insightful understanding of macro-economic issues. He steered the banking system from chaos to order and ensured discipline. Under his leadership, the RBI brought financial stability."
The PM further added saying, "He has been in the Reserve Bank of India for about 6 years as Deputy Governor and Governor."
Finally, PM Modi says, "He leaves behind a great legacy. We will miss him immensely."
Urjit Patel was appointed as RBI Deputy Governor on January 11, 2013, just few months before appointment of Raghuram Rajan as RBI governor.
However, Urjit Patel's journey with RBI goes way back to even before 2000, when he went on deputation from the IMF to RBI and took major roles in development of the debt market, banking sector reforms, pension fund reforms, targeting of real exchange rate.
Urjit Patel played his role as Deputy Governor in RBI for three years. He assisted Raghuram Rajan in monetary policy, economic policy research, statistics and information management, deposit insurance, communication and Right to Information.
Interestingly, Patel was one of the key candidates in line to become RBI governor after Raghuram Rajan decided to exit from his post once his tenure ended in September 2016. Unlike Rajan who was known for his outspokenness and virtually walked the talk, Patel was a silent governor whose actions spoke for him. Patel was officially announced as RBI governor on August 20, 2016 and took his charge on September 04, 2016.