Govt appoints former RBI governor Urjit Patel as India ED at IMF

The government on Friday appointed former Reserve Bank governor Urjit Patel as the executive director, India, at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Patel will succeed Krishnamurthy V Subramanian whose term as the ED was unexpectedly cut short by about six months in April.

The appointment is for three years from the date of the resumption of the charge or until further orders, whichever is earlier. It has been approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, according to an order dated August 28 by the Department of Personnel and Training.

The move comes at a time when India has opposed frequent IMF bailout programmes for Pakistan, expressing concerns over the use of such funds for funding war and cross-border terrorism by Islamabad. It had also questioned the efficacy of such programmes.

The IMF board had, on May 9, approved lending of $1 billion to Pakistan under an existing multi-year programme involving a total support of $7 billion. It also cleared a $1.4 billion credit line for climate resilience efforts, which will be released in tranches.

Experts had then questioned the timing of the IMF move and called on the multilateral body to ensure its funds are used strictly for the intended purpose.What had irked New Delhi was that the formal clearances were granted during Operation Sindoor.

India abstained from voting at the IMF board meeting then. There is no provision to vote against a proposal at the IMF. A country can either vote in favour or abstain.