India appoints new central bank chief

Mumbai: India on Monday appointed finance ministry bureaucrat Sanjay Malhotra to helm the country s central bank, a day before his predecessor s term...

Mumbai: India on Monday appointed finance ministry bureaucrat Sanjay Malhotra to helm the country's central bank, a day before his predecessor's term was due to end.

Malhotra will steer monetary policy in the world's fifth-largest economy after weeks of speculation over whether his predecessor Shaktikanta Das would have his term extended again.

A notification from the Indian cabinet's appointments committee said Malhotra had been appointed to lead the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a "period of three years" starting from Wednesday.

Malhotra is an engineering graduate and has a master's degree in public policy from Princeton University, according to the finance ministry website.

Currently the secretary of the revenue department, he will take charge at a time when pressure has been building on the RBI to cut interest rates as economic growth slows.