Raghuram Rajan today took over as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India at a time when the Indian economy is facing its worst crisis in over two decade
He earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from IIT-Delhi, before pursuing his MBA in 1987 from the Indian IIM-Ahmedabad, followed by a PhD in 1991 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a gold medalist at both IIT and IIM.
Raghuram Rajan is the 23rd governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He has been appointed for a period of three years, and will take charge from D. Subbarao, who is exiting after an extended five-year term.
This will be Mr. Rajan's second assignment in the country. He was appointed the Chief Economic Adviser to the Finance Ministry in August last year.
He was the Economic Counselor and Director of Research (simply put, the chief economist) at the International Monetary Fund from September 2003 till January 2007.
Mr. Rajan's claim to fame is his prediction of the 2008 global financial crisis. In his paper titled Has Financial Development Made The World Riskier?, which he submitted in November 2005, Mr. Rajan wrote: "But perhaps the most important concern is whether banks will be able to provide liquidity to financial markets so that if the tail risk does materialize,..." The response to this paper was negative.
In January 2003, the American Finance Association awarded Mr. Rajan the inaugural Fischer Black Prize, given every two years to the financial economist under age 40 who has made the most significant contribution to the theory and practice of finance.
In January 2003, the American Finance Association awarded Mr. Rajan the inaugural Fischer Black Prize, given every two years to the financial economist under age 40 who has made the most significant contribution to the theory and practice of finance.
Congratulations and Best Wishes to Raghuram Rajan on his taking over as the Governor of the RBI. As his predecessor mentioned, we could not have had a more qualified professional as Governor at this crucial stage of the failing economy. Let us hope that he plays a great role in reversing the falling trend of the Rupee and in accelerating the growth of the economy.