RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya quits 6 months before his term ends

Acharya had joined the central bank on January 23 last year after Patel was elevated to the post of governor in September 2016.

RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya, who was in-charge of the monetary policy department, has resigned six months before the scheduled end of his term, sources said on Monday.

New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Deputy Governor Viral Acharya has resigned form his post on Monday six months before the scheduled end of his term. He who was in-charge of the monetary policy department. This is the second high profile resignation in the past six month at the RBI. Submitting a letter to RBI, Acharya informed that due to unavoidable personal circumstances, he is unable to continue his term as a Deputy Governor of RBI beyond July 23, 2019. Meanwhile, consequential action arising from his letter is under consideration. Acharya is the second top RBI official to quit after Governor Urijit Patel's exit last December. Earlier, the governor Urjit Patel resigned nearly nine months before the end of his schedule term over differences with the government. Acharya had joined the central bank on January 23 last year after Patel was elevated to the post of governor in September 2016. Acharya, who once called himself the 'poor man's Raghuram Rajan', was appointed for three years.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor, Viral Acharya has resigned six months before the scheduled end of his term. He had joined RBI in 2017. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/RyxAt6fmAN

— ANI (@ANI) June 24, 2019

He took over at a time when the central bank was facing criticism for repeated changes in the rules related to deposit and withdrawal of money, post-demonetisation. Acharya will be now returning to the New York University's Stern School of Business in August instead of February 2020. With Acharya's resignation, the RBI is now left with three deputy governors N S Vishwanathan, B P Kanungo and M K Jain. As per the report, speculation about Acharyas exit had started on the day of his boss resignation, forcing the RBI to deny it then.

Reserve Bank of India: Dr Viral V. Acharya submitted a letter to RBI informing that due to unavoidable personal circumstances, he is unable to continue his term as a Deputy Governor of RBI beyond July 23, 2019. Consequential action arising from his letter is under consideration. pic.twitter.com/ZHZMQGxjxP

— ANI (@ANI) June 24, 2019

The sources said that Acharya, who joined as the RBI Deputy Governor in January 2017, was against the central bank's decision on repeated cuts of repo rates to support the government's public spending and consumption boost measures to tackle the slowing growth. During his tenure, Acharya advocated for RBI's independence, saying that if the government does not respect its autonomy, it will incur the wrath of financial markets. His resignation comes in the backdrop of economic growth slowing to 5.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018-19. It also comes ahead of the Union Budget 2019-20 in the Parliament on July 5. (With inputs from agencies)