Yet another early exit from RBI’s heads as Viral Acharya- Deputy Governor has resigned following the path of Raghuram Rajan and Urjit Patel who both left RBI after failing to get along with the government.

This wasn’t surprising as Last October, he delivered a hard-hitting speech on central bank independence. Like Rajan and Patel, Acharya also was known for his strong decisions to clean up the banking system and introduce new ideas such as inflation targeting. They also fought for RBI’s independence.

Acharya was the youngest to become deputy governor has resigned six months ahead of the completion of his three-year tenure. RBI, in a statement, on Monday, said: “A few weeks ago, Acharya submitted a letter to the RBI informing that due to unavoidable personal circumstances, he is unable to continue his term as a Deputy Governor of the RBI beyond July 23. Consequential action arising from his letter is under consideration of the Competent Authority.”

The reason

Before joining RBI, Acharya was the CV Starr Professor of Economics, Department of Finance, New York University. He has been on leave from the university since January 17, 2017, and is likely to join the same. Talking about the same, he said: “I have a feeling that he wanted to leave. The timing of his exit should be seen in the context of the ‘fall’ term in US universities beginning in August. With his term anyway coming to an end in December 2019, he would have thought of quitting before his term ends. If he had continued for another six months and the extension at the RBI did not materialise in December, then he would have had to wait for another four-five months before joining back academia. I think this is what might have prompted him to resign. The government may prefer to have a non-NRI economist as Deputy Governor.”

Quote Source: HinduBusinessLine