Viral Acharya, RBI's Deputy Resigns

RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya has reportedly resigned six months before the scheduled end of his term. Viral Acharya had batted for central bank's Independence.

Sources have confirmed that Acharya resigned to The Indian Express, adding that he was not expecting his term to be renewed in any case. Acharya, who joined the RBI on January 23, 2017, was the youngest deputy governor in the post-economic liberalisation era. He will return to New York University Stern School of Business (NYU Stern) to teach. According to Economic Times, Acharya has been uncomfortable ever since the exit of Urjit Patel as Governor of RBI. His academic views of the financial system were in contrast with the rest of the system.

Recently, Viral Acharya had a difference of opinion with the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das in the monetary policy announced on April 4, reported the Indian Express. Acharya did PhD in Finance from New York University Stern School of Business in 2001. He also holds B Tech degree in Computer Science and Engineering, from Indian Institute of Technology.

This is the second high profile resignation in the past six month at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In December, governor Urjit Patel resigned nearly nine months before the end of his schedule term over differences with the government. The RBI is now left with three deputy governors N S Vishwanathan, B P Kanungo and M K Jain. Acharya, a New York University economics professor who once called himself the 'poor man's Raghuram Rajan', was appointed for three years. He took over at a time when the central bank was facing criticism for repeated changes in the rules related to deposit and withdrawal of money, post-demonetisation.