Poonam Gupta has been elected to the post of Deputy Governor in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Poonam Gupta is the Director General of the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and a part-time member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council. She has also been the lead economist for India in the World Bank. Gupta has been elected as the Deputy Governor of RBI in place of Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra. Patra retires from the central bank on January 14, 2025.
Gupta's tenure will be of 3 years. There are 4 deputy governors in RBI. Out of these, 2 are promoted from their ranks. One is from commercial banking background, while the other is an economist. Currently, the other 3 deputy governors of RBI are Rajeswara Rao, T Rabi Shankar and Swaminathan Janakiraman.
The Deputy Governor, responsible for monetary policy, plays a key role in formulating and implementing policies aimed at controlling inflation and ensuring economic stability.
Gupta worked in various positions at the World Bank from 2013 to 2021. Prior to this, she worked as Reserve Bank of India Chair Professor at NIPF (National Institute of Public Finance), Professor of Macroeconomics at ICRIER, Associate Professor at Delhi School of Economics. She has also been an economist at the International Monetary Fund, where she worked in the Asia Pacific Department, European Department and Research Department.
