Raghuram Rajan nominated as IMF Economic Counsellor

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On July 2, IMF Managing Director Horst Köhler announced his intention to nominate Raghuram Rajan, currently Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, as the IMF's next Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department. Rajan would succeed Kenneth Rogoff, who had earlier announced his decision to return to academia in the fall of 2003.

In making this announcement, Köhler noted that Rajan has been at the forefront of work on banking and financial sector issues. He cited Rajan's exceptional rise within the economics profession and his extensive experience, adding that Rajan "will bring a strong and proven record of intellectual leadership to the IMF. This will be an asset to develop further the IMF's research program to the leading edge of economic theory and policy. His particular experience in financial sector issues will help strengthen the IMF's role as a center of excellence in macroeconomic and financial sector stability." Köhler also expressed confidence that as Economic Counsellor, Rajan "will help the IMF meet its responsibilities in supporting its members in an increasingly complex and challenging global environment."

Rajan, 40, and an Indian national, has published extensively on economic and...