Economist Raghuram Rajan could be a probable candidate for the job of governor at the Bank of England, according to a report in Financial Times. The former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor has been named by the London-based business daily as one among the strong contenders for the top job at the central bank of the UK.
“Attracting Raghuram Rajan, the highly respected Chicago-based economist and former Reserve Bank of India governor, would be a coup,” said the report. Raghuram Rajan's “impeccable international economics and central banking experience”, apart from his “significant achievements at the Reserve Bank of India” made him one of Financial Times' favourites for the governor job at Bank of England. However, the newspaper also noted that there has been no indication of interest from Raghuram Rajan for the job.
The post of Bank of England's chief will become vacant as its current governor Mark Carney's tenure is set to end in 2019. UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, who is on a hunt to find a replacement for Carney, has indicated that he is not going to shy away from looking abroad again to find a fitting candidate. Canadian economist Carney became the Bank of England governor in 2013, prior to which he had served as the governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008.
Former Mexican central bank chief Agustin Carstens, who now runs the Bank for International Settlements, is the other potential foreign candidate for the top job.
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Apart from Raghuram Rajan, Shriti Vadera, the chair of Santander UK and a former business minister under Gordon Brown, is another person of Indian origin who finds mention among the strong candidates for the top job. “Having been a key government figure in the financial crisis, Baroness Vadera is also credited with doing a good job in chairing a committee of City grandees, and later in helping to frame the UK’s position on Brexit and financial services,” the report said.
Raghuram Rajan, who is Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Chicago Booth, served as the 23rd governor of RBI from September 2013 to September 2016.