Raghuram Rajan candidate for Bank of England governor role: report

Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan is one of the contenders for the next chief of the Bank of England as the term of its current governor Mark Carney nears its end. UK Chancellor and Exchequer Philip Hammond has indicated that he would be willing to look abroad for Carney's successor. "The formal process has not yet started but I, and many other people I am sure, may have cast their eye around various rooms to see if any likely looking candidates hove into view," he told reporters as mentioned in a report in Bloomberg.

Mark Carney whose term ends in June 2019 was the first foreigner in three centuries to run the UK central banks.

Amongst foreign potential candidates are Raghuram Rajan, former RBI Governor and University of Chicago professor, and former Mexican central bank chief Agustin Carstens, who currently runs the Bank for International Settlements.

Raghuram Rajan moved back to the world of academics once his three-year term as RBI chief came to an end on September 4, 2016. In a letter in June that year, Rajan addressed the RBI staff and said, "I am an academic and I have always made it clear that my ultimate home is in the realm of ideas. The approaching end of my three year term, and of my leave at the University of Chicago, was therefore a good time to reflect on how much we had accomplished."

Shortly after his tenure came to an end, the PM announced demonetisation. Rajan spoke up against the decision and said that he was never in favour of the cash ban that was announced in 2016. He even wrote in his book that he "felt like the short-term economic costs would outweigh them (the government)".

Raghuram Rajan published his book I Do What I Do in 2017. Rajan was the 23rd governor of the RBI. He was named one of the world's '100 Most Influential People' in 2016 by TIME magazine.