Arvind Subramanian not a top contender for the post of chief economic advisor

NEW DELHI: US-based economist Arvind Subramanian, widely tipped as the next chief economic advisor in the finance ministry, seems to be out of the reckoning for the post.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley has held some discussions on the appointment to the post of CEA with Prime Minister Narendra Modi but no final decision has been taken. Jaitley is in hospital recovering from an infection he contracted after undergoing surgery for diabetes management in September.

A final call is expected to be taken on the matter when Jaitley gets back to work.

Subramanian is no longer a frontrunner for the post, a senior government official said. The position has been vacant since last year when Raghuram Rajan moved to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as governor.

Subramanian, an alumnus of Delhi’s St Stephen’s College and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, is currently a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Centre for Global Development in the US. Siddharth Tiwari, an IMF economist, was also among those tipped to have been considered for the post.

The occupant advises on the macroeconomic situation and is responsible for two key publications — the mid-year economic review and the Economic Survey.

Modi, keen to have a lean government structure, is yet to constitute his economic advisory council as well. This was chaired by former RBI governor C Rangarajan in the previous government. Modi has already indicated his intent to revamp the Planning Commission.