india

Updated: Dec 12, 2018 09:26 IST

Former economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das has been appointed Reserve Bank of India governor, according to news agency Reuters. He replaces the central bank governor Urjit Patel who has resigned citing personal reasons.

Das was appointed for a three-year tenure, making him the 25th governor of the 83-year-old institution, a statement from the personnel ministry said on Tuesday.

Das is a member of the Finance Commission of India and the government’s representative at the Group of 20 summits.

A retired IAS officer, Das was initially brought to the finance ministry to lead its revenue department and was later moved to economic affairs, where he helped to spearhead the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s controversial notes ban decision in 2016.

A protracted tiff between the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) climaxed on Monday when Urjit Patel resigned, days before a board meeting where he would have faced intense pressure.

Patel had taken charge as the governor in September 2016 after Raghuram Rajan resigned from the post on 19 June of that year and had overseen the government-driven ban on high-value currency notes. Patel’s term as RBI governor was to end in September 2019.