The government has approved the appointment of former Reserve Bank Governor Urjit Patel as Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a period of three years.He would replace K V Subramanian, whose services were terminated by the government six months ahead of his three-year tenure. The termination took effect on April 30, 2025.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Urjit Patel, economist and former RBI Governor, to the post of Executive Director (ED) at the IMF, for a period of three years with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post, or until further orders, a government order dated August 28, 2025, said.
The executive board of the IMF is composed of 25 directors (executive directors or EDs) elected by the member countries or groups of countries.
India is part of a four-country constituency, along with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan, as its members.
Prior to this appointment, Patel served as Vice President for Investment Operations (Region 1) at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
According to the Beijing-based multilateral funding institution, he resigned from his position in January 2024 due to family health matters.
Patel took over as the 24th Governor of the RBI in 2016, succeeding Raghuram Rajan.
In December 2018, he abruptly resigned from the position amid a tussle with the government over the issue of dividend transfer to the government by the central bank.