After long deliberation, the government of India has finally appointed Krishnamurthy Subramanian as Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) for three years. This important post was lying vacant for almost six months after Arvind Subramanian left the finance ministry due to “pressing family commitments” on June 20. At 47, he is the youngest economist appointed for the position of CEA.

The new CEA will have to plan his work properly as his appointment comes barely 50 days before the latest economic survey needs to be presented in 2019, after the general elections.

World’s leading banking expert

Newly appointed Krishnamurthy is an associate professor at the Indian school of business in Hyderabad. According to ISB’s website, he has a PhD from Chicago-booth and is a top ranking IIT-IIM alumnus. Also, Subramanian is one of the world’s leading experts in banking, corporate governance and economic policy, as reported by Economic Times. One of his guides in Chicago University’s Booth school was former governor of the Reserve bank of India, Raghuram Rajan.

According to India today, the new CEA has also been a part of market regular SEBI’s panel and is a member of SEBI’s standing committees. He is also one of the board members of Bandhan Bank, National Institute of Bank management and the RBI academy.

He has also served as the finance faculty at Goizueta Business School in the US and has worked as a consultant with JPMorgan Chase Co in New York.

Supports demonetization

Krishnamurthy, who is also a prolific writer, strongly supports demonetization and termed it revolutionary in one of his columns.

“Many of us grew up despising politicians for feathering their nests, compromising on issues of national importance and dragging their feet on bold decisions. Against this backdrop, the demonetization effort is a revolutionary change”, he wrote in one of his economic opinion pieces as reported by The Times of India.

His student Akash Seth feels that “Prof Subbu”, as they call him, is similar to Raghuram Rajan in some aspects.

“What we have heard on campus is that he is very influenced by Rajan’s work and also, Rajan was one of his gurus. So, like Rajan we hope Prof Subbu will not be diplomatic,” Times of India quotes Seth as saying.  

His Alma Mater IIM Calcutta congratulated Subramanian through a tweet for being appointed as the new Chief Economic Advisor to the Finance Ministry.

Also Read: Demonetisation: “Massive, Draconian, Monetary Shock”, Says Modi Govt’s Former Chief Economic Advisor