Michael Patra Appointed RBI Deputy Governor For 3 Years

The central government has appointed Michael Debabrata Patra as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for three years, according to a press release issued by the cabinet’s Appointments Committee.

Patra is a Phd in Economics from IIT Powai (Mumbai). Before moving to the Monetary Policy Department in October 2005, he was an adviser in the Department of Economic Analysis and Policy in charge of international finance, money and banking.

Later, he served in various capacities in the RBI which he joined in 1985. He is also a Fellow of the Harvard University where he did post-doctoral research in the area of financial stability.

Patra will replace RBI’s former deputy governor Viral Acharya, who left office on July 23, 2019. He will likely take over the monetary policy portfolio which used to be handled by Acharya.

Patra, who has had a long stint at the RBI, is currently executive director of its Monetary Policy Department. Patra has been central to the RBI’s views on the macro-economy, the new inflation targeting framework as well as the liquidity framework.

Patra, who was once seen as an inflation hawk, is known to have changed his his view and supported interest rate cuts to support economic growth.

At the June 2019 meeting, Patra not only voted for a third interest rate cut but also called for fiscal support to the economy.

“At this juncture, monetary policy by itself cannot bring about a reinvigoration of economic activity. Monetary policy is taking the lead as the first line of defence, but a co-ordinated full throttle effort by all arms of macroeconomic management is the need of the hour,” Patra was quoted as having said.