Raghuram Rajan

Born     3 February 1963 (age 50)
Bhopal, India
Nationality     Indian[1]
Institution     University of Chicago
Field     Financial economics
Alma mater     IIT Delhi (B.Tech.)
IIM Ahmedabad (MBA)
MIT (PhD)
Awards     2003 Fischer Black Prize
2010 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award


 Raghuram Rajan on Wednesday took over as the new Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Mr. Rajan, 50, an economics professor who also served as chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, took charge from the outgoing Governor Dr. Subbarao.

The duo shook hands warmly and hugged after Mr. Rajan signed papers taking over as the 23rd Governor of the central bank.

“Ten minutes ago, I handed over charge to Mr. Raghuram Rajan,” Dr. Subbarao said after stepping out of Mint Road. “The country could not have asked for a more capable person to lead the RBI in these most difficult times.”



1)      Raghuram Rajan is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.

2)      Rajan has a background in economics. He received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after a thesis on the banking sector.

3)      He went on to join the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago as a professor. His work in Chicago earned him the prestigious Fischer Black Prize for being one of the best academic under 40 in the field of financial economics.

4)      In 2003, he served as the Economic Counsellor and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He is the youngest to become the chief economist at the IMF. He is also a visiting professor for the Federal Reserve Board and the World Bank.

5)      Rajan has written two books – ‘Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy’, and ‘Saving Capitalism’, which he co-authored with his fellow professor at Chicago University Luigi Zingales.

6)      Once trashed, Rajan is today credited world over for predicting the 2008 financial crisis early in 2005.

7)      In 2012, he was appointed as the Chief Economic Adviser to the Finance Ministry.

8)      He has also served as the honorary economic adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008.

9)      During the same year, he headed a committee on reforms in the financial sector. In the report submitted to the Planning Commission, he called for the RBI to focus on one target alone – inflation, and warned that by trying to manage the exchange rate and growth too, the central bank risked not undertaking either of the tasks successfully.

10)   At the age of 50, Rajan will be one of the youngest RBI governors. Dr Manmohan Singh was just 10 days short of 50 when he became the RBI governor in 1982.