Government appoints NS Vishwanathan as new RBI deputy governor

MUMBAI: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has cleared the appointment of NS Vishwanathan as the new deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Vishwanathan will succeed HR Khan whose term ends this week.

N. S. Vishwanathan who was appointed executive director in April 2014 currently oversees banking and non-banking regulation departments. Prior, to that he served as the Principal Chief General Manager in the Department of non-banking supervision.

Vishwanathan also served as a Director of Punjab National Bank from September 6, 2012 to May 31, 2013. He also served as Nominee Director at Dena Bank and was also Chief General Manager of Vigilance at IFCI.

A search panel headed by cabinet secretary P.K. Sinha interviewed the candidates. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan was also a member of the panel.

RBI has provision for four Deputy Governors, two of whom are appointed from outside — an economist and a commercial banker. The other two Deputy Governors are appointed from within the RBI’s ranks.