The Statesman

New Delhi, Sep 2: The finance secretary, Dr Duvvuri Subbarao, was today named the next Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, taking over from Dr YV Reddy, whose term comes to an end this week. Dr Subbarao will take charge after Dr Reddy demits office on 5 September, the finance minister, Mr P Chidambaram, announced.

Dr Subbarao, believed to be a favourite of the finance minister, was, prior to holding the post of finance secretary, the secretary, department of economic affairs. He belongs to the 1972 batch of the IAS (Andhra Pradesh cadre).

Dr Subbarao has wide experience on issues in public finance and has held important posts in this area. He has worked as secretary to the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council. Earlier, he was lead economist with the World Bank and had worked on various issues in public finance in countries of Africa and East Asia.

An alumni of IIT Kanpur, he was one of the first IIT products to join the civil services. Subsequent to joining the IAS, he did his MS in Economics from Ohio State University (1978) and was a Humphrey Fellow at MIT during 1982-83. He holds a Ph.D in Economics.

With uncertainty prevailing over whether Dr Reddy would demit his office or be given an extension, given that there was talk of differences between him and the finance minister, at least four names were making the rounds as a possible RBI successor. Apart from Dr Subbarao, former secretary in the department of economic affairs and currently RBI Deputy Governor, Mr Rakesh Mohan, was said to be the front runner for the post. The other names thrown up were those of former finance secretary and currently executive director at the International Monetary Fund, Mr Adarsh Kishore, and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia.