K Subramanian, former CEA, named IMF Executive Director (India)

New Delhi: According to a Personnel Ministry directive issued on Thursday, former Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian has been named Executive Director (ED) at the International Monetary Fund.

Currently, Subramanian teaches finance at the Indian School of Business.

The appointment of Subramanian to the position of Executive Director (India) at the IMF, with effect from November 1, 2022, for three years or until further orders, has been approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, it was announced. Dr Surjit S. Bhalla's tenure as ED (India), IMF will now end on October 31, 2022.

Bhalla was appointed to the post for three years in October 2019.

According to sources, the EDs are elected for a period of two years through voting by the Governors representing the respective constituency countries.

The next two-year term of the EDs will start on November 1, 2022, for which the nominations have to be made within August 29, 2022, and the voting will happen on October 14, 2022.

Bhalla joined the IMF Executive Board on November 9, 2019, after his election by the constituency countries in that electoral cycle.

He was re-elected in the next electoral cycle for 2 years from 01.11.2020 to 31.10.2022, leaving only nine days of the remaining term as per the GOI's order, sources said.

As getting India's nominee elected for 9 days only and thereafter causing a bye-election for the new incumbent would have been impractical, the term of Bhalla has been aligned with the electoral cycle of the IMF, ie, up to October 31, 2022, by curtailing the term by 9 days, sources added.

Subramanian, who completed his three-year tenure as CEA in 2021, would be nominated by India for election by the constituency Governors as per the electoral cycle for the term starting from November 1, 2022.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is composed of 24 Directors (called Executive Directors or ED), who are elected by member countries or by groups of countries.

Seven of the EDs represent single-country constituencies whereas 17 EDs represent multi-country constituencies.

India is in a four-country constituency having India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan as members.

With PTI inputs