The government has approved the appointment of former RBI governor Urjit Patel as executive director at the International Monetary Fund for a three-year term. He replaces K.V. Subramanian, whose services were terminated six months ahead of his three-year tenure; the termination took effect on April 30, 2025.

A government order dated August 28, 2025, said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved Patel’s appointment with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post, or until further orders.

The IMF’s executive board has 25 directors elected by member countries or groups. India belongs to a four-country constituency with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

Prior to this appointment, he served as vice-president for investment operations (region 1) at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. He resigned in January 2024, citing family health matters.

Patel became the 24th RBI governor in 2016, succeeding Raghuram Rajan, and resigned in December 2018 amid differences with the government over the central bank’s dividend transfer. Earlier, as deputy governor, he handled monetary policy, economic policy research, statistics and information management, deposit insurance, communication and the right to information.

Born in 1963, he was consultant to the ministry of finance from 1998 to 2001 and worked with Reliance Industries, IDFC, MCX and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation.

He earned a Bachelor’s in Economics from the London School of Economics, a Master of Philosophy at Oxford in 1986 and a PhD in Economics at Yale in 1990. He then served at the IMF from 1990 to 1995 on the US, India, Bahamas and Myanmar desks.