Poonam Gupta Appointed as RBI’s New Deputy Governor

Former World Bank economist Poonam Gupta was appointed deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India. She is going to occupy a crucial role at the central bank during a period of monetary policy easing.

Poonam Gupta, a veteran economist for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. She was named a Deputy Governor at the Reserve Bank of India by India on Wednesday. The hiring of Gupta coincides with a pivotal period in which the RBI is loosening its monetary policy. According to the reports, New Delhi on Wednesday said that Poonam Gupta had been appointed for a three-year term. With this appointment, Poonam Gupta has become the first woman deputy governor over the decade.

Who is Poonam Gupta?

Poonam Gupta, a renowned economist and government advisor, spent almost twenty years at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Michael Patra, who led the RBI’s monetary policy division until his retirement in January, is replaced by Poonam Gupta.

The monetary policy committee, which lowered interest rates in February for the first time in five years under new Governor Sanjay Malhotra, is expected to include the former IMF economist. As Malhotra shifts to a more growth-friendly stance than his predecessor, Shaktikanta Das, economists anticipate more rate cuts the following week.

Poonam Gupta’s Previous Works:

Gupta served as the director general of the National Council of Applied Economic Research, a think tank with its headquarters in New Delhi, and as a part-time member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council. She has urged in recent writings for greater exchange rate flexibility as a shock-reduction measure.

She said in an opinion piece published in The Economic Times newspaper in March that “in recent years, policy response has shifted more toward the use of reserves while limiting depreciation of the exchange rate.” “This should be reviewed in order to mitigate shocks more quickly,” she stated. Additionally, Gupta advocated for price stability and suggested that the inflation basket’s weight be updated to reflect food costs. Her opinions will be significant when the federal government and the RBI examine the inflation targeting framework in March 2026.