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.
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.
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)