Urjit Patel
24th Governor of Reserve Bank of India
Why this is trending
Interest in “Urjit Patel” spiked on Wikipedia on 2026-02-24.
Categorised under Entertainment, this article fits a familiar pattern. Articles in the entertainment category often trend when tied to award ceremonies, film releases, celebrity news, or viral social media moments.
By monitoring millions of daily Wikipedia page views, GlyphSignal helps you spot cultural moments as they happen and understand the stories behind the numbers.
Key Takeaways
- Urjit Patel (born 28 October 1963) is a Kenyan-born Indian economist, who served as the 24th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 2016 to 2018 and is currently serving as the Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund representing India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
- Early life and education Urjit Patel was born in Nairobi on 28 October 1963 to Manjula and Ravindra Patel.
- His father ran Rexo Products Ltd, a chemical factory in Nairobi.
- He studied at the London School of Economics for a Bachelor of Science degree in 1984.
- degree from University of Oxford in 1986.
Urjit Patel (born 28 October 1963) is a Kenyan-born Indian economist, who served as the 24th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 2016 to 2018 and is currently serving as the Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund representing India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. He also serves as the Chairman of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, additional director of Britannia Industries and independent director of John Cockerill India.
Early life and education
Urjit Patel was born in Nairobi on 28 October 1963 to Manjula and Ravindra Patel. His grandfather had migrated from Mahudha village in Kheda district, Gujarat to Kenya in the 20th century. His father ran Rexo Products Ltd, a chemical factory in Nairobi.
He studied in Nairobi at Jamhuri High School, and prior to that the Gujarati community-run Visa Oshwal Primary School. He studied at the London School of Economics for a Bachelor of Science degree in 1984. He obtained an M.Phil. degree from University of Oxford in 1986. He was conferred a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University in 1990. He was at IMF India Desk during the 1991–94 transition period.
Professional career
After obtaining his Ph.D., Patel joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1990, where he worked on the US, India, Bahamas and Myanmar desks till 1995. Thereafter he went on deputation from the IMF to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), where he played an advisory role in the development of the debt market, banking sector reforms, pension fund reforms, and targeting of real exchange rate.
Between 2000 and 2004, Patel worked with several High-Level Committees at both Central and State Government levels:
Content sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0
