4 In Fray For RBI Deputy Governor's Post

Four executive directors of the Reserve Bank of India -- Vivek Deep, Rohit Jain, Radha Shyam Ratho and Ajay Kumar -- are in the running for the deputy governor's post, which will be vacated as T Rabi Sankar's current term ends in early May.

Deep, the senior-most executive director, looks after currency management and the payment and settlements department, among others. Deep was appointed as executive director in September 2020.

Jain and Ratho were appointed executive directors in December 2020. Jain looks after the department of supervision, while Ratho looks after Financial Markets Operations Department, Department of External Investments and Operations, among others.

Kumar was appointed executive director in August 2021. Before becoming executive director, Kumar headed the RBI's New Delhi regional office as regional director. He looks after the Internal Debt Management Department and External Investments and Operations.

At present, RBI has 16 executive director-rank officers, including the Chief Financial Officer.

T Rabi Sankar joined the Reserve Bank of India in 1990 and worked in various capacities until he assumed the office of Deputy Governor in May 2021. 

Last year, the government reappointed him for another year, effective May 3. He was instrumental in setting up RBI's screen-based anonymous Negotiated Dealing System in Government Securities with guaranteed settlement through a central counterparty.

Under Rabi Sankar's watch, the RBI launched one of its most ambitious projects in recent times -- the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot project for both wholesale and retail segments, in 2022.

Rabi Sankar's portfolios include Foreign Exchange Department, Internal Debt Management, Currency Management, Payment and Settlement Systems, Fintech Department among others.

-- Manojit Saha, Business Standard