The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has redistributed the portfolios of its Deputy Governors following the end of Deputy Governor Michael Patra’s extended term on Tuesday. In the reshuffle, Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao has emerged as the most influential Deputy Governor within the central bank.
The RBI has four deputy governors, an economist to oversee the monetary policy department, one commercial banker, and two from within the ranks.
As per the latest allocation of duties, Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao has been assigned two crucial portfolios, which were earlier with Patra, the Department of Monetary Policy as well as Department of Economic and Policy Research. Rao is already in charge of banking regulation. It needs to be mentioned here that the Deputy Governor in charge of monetary policy is also a member of the rate-setting panel – the monetary policy committee (MPC), and hence, Rao will also be overseeing preparations for the forthcoming MPC meeting scheduled for Feb 5-7.
Apart from it, Rao will also head the Department of Communication, Department of Regulation, Department of Statistics and Information Management, Enforcement Department, International Department, Legal Department, Risk Monitoring Department, Secretary’s Department, and Co- ordination.
Meanwhile, Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar has been assigned the Financial Markets Operations Department. Other departments he is supposed to look after include the Central Security Cell, Department of Currency Management, Department of External Investments & Operations, Department of Government and Bank Accounts, Department of Information Technology, Department of Payment and Settlement Systems, and the Fintech Department. He will also oversee Financial Markets Regulation, Foreign Exchange, Human Resource Management, Internal Debt Management, and the Right to Information (RIA) Division.
Deputy Governor Swaminathan Janakiraman will manage departments focused on financial stability and consumer protection. These include the Consumer Education and Protection Department, Corporate Strategy and Budget Department, Department of Supervision, Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation, and Financial Inclusion and Development Department. He will also oversee the Financial Stability Department, Inspection Department, Premises Department, and the Rajbhasha Department.
The reshuffle comes amid the government’s ongoing process of finalising Dr Patra’s replacement. A top government search and selection panel is set to meet in the capital soon to finalise the selection.
The search and selection panel is headed by none other than Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan and comprises the RBI Governor, Sanjay Malhotra, DFS Secretary M Nagaraju, senior government officials, and outside experts.
According to sources, the panel is sifting through a large number of applications that had inundated it by November 30 deadlines.
Michael Patra, a career central banker since 1985, was first appointed as RBI Deputy Governor in January 2020 for a three-year term, which was subsequently extended twice. Prior to his role as Deputy Governor, Patra served as RBI’s Executive Director and has been a member of the Monetary Policy Committee since its inception in 2016.
