Subir Gokarn in race with World Bank's Kalpana Kochhar for his deputy governor post of RBI

MUMBAI: Subir Gokarn, the incumbent, and Kalpana Kochhar, the World Bank's chief economist for South Asia, are being considered for the post of deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

A committee headed by RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao and including DK Mittal, secretary in the department of financial services, has shortlisted Gokarn and Kochhar, said two government officials with knowledge of the matter.

While no decision has been taken, Gokarn is well placed to secure a fresh two-year term, the officials added.

Gokarn, who completed a three-year term as deputy governor in November this year, was given a month's extension by the government after it set in motion a formal process to select a senior economist to help the governor in formulating monetary policy.

The officials said Subbarao is strongly in favour of a fresh two-year term for Gokarn, who joined RBI in 2009.

The finance minister will have to approve the recommendations of the committee.

Gokarn, 53, has formerly been chief economist for Asia-Pacific at credit rating agency Standard and Poor's. He has also served as executive director at Crisil and chief economist at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

Kochhar, who has a PhD in economics from Brown University, US, has been division chief and senior advisor, Asia-Pacific, at the International Monetary Fund. She is now chief economist at the World Bank for South Asia, including India, and has been a proponent of next-generation structural reforms to boost the growth of the Indian economy in the medium term. Her candidature is seen by some in the financial sector as an attempt by the government to bring into the central bank a professional economist in tune with its policy choices.