Modi names Rajan ally Subramanian as chief economic adviser
By Douglas Busvine and Frank Jack Daniel
NEW DELHI Thu Oct 16, 2014 8:28pm IST
(Reuters) - A high-powered academic who tells his students to read Joseph Conrad and Gabriel Garcia Marquez to better understand economic development was confirmed on Thursday as chief economic adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
Ending two months of uncertainty, U.S.-based economist Arvind Subramanian announced at an impromptu news conference that he had got the job, on a day of drama in which the finance ministry's top civil servant was sacked.
His appointment inserts a friend of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan at the heart of policy making, as Modi seeks to make good on a jobs-and-growth pledge that swept him to power in a general election in May.
"I have just taken charge as chief economic adviser," Subramanian told reporters outside the finance ministry. "It is a great honour ... to serve in a government that has a mandate for reform and change."
Setting out his priorities, Subramanian said: "For any economy like India, two big things are macro-economic stability and, of course, creating the conditions for rapid investments and growth."
...
Contd here:
http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/1...0I51FQ20141016
By Douglas Busvine and Frank Jack Daniel
NEW DELHI Thu Oct 16, 2014 8:28pm IST
(Reuters) - A high-powered academic who tells his students to read Joseph Conrad and Gabriel Garcia Marquez to better understand economic development was confirmed on Thursday as chief economic adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
Ending two months of uncertainty, U.S.-based economist Arvind Subramanian announced at an impromptu news conference that he had got the job, on a day of drama in which the finance ministry's top civil servant was sacked.
His appointment inserts a friend of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan at the heart of policy making, as Modi seeks to make good on a jobs-and-growth pledge that swept him to power in a general election in May.
"I have just taken charge as chief economic adviser," Subramanian told reporters outside the finance ministry. "It is a great honour ... to serve in a government that has a mandate for reform and change."
Setting out his priorities, Subramanian said: "For any economy like India, two big things are macro-economic stability and, of course, creating the conditions for rapid investments and growth."
...
Contd here:
http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/1...0I51FQ20141016