MUMBAI: India’s government named an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the country’s new central bank chief on Tuesday, a day after his predecessor quit following a dispute about government’s interference.

Shaktikanta Das has been appointed governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for three years, a government statement said.

The 63-year-old is a former senior finance ministry official and a key figure in Modi’s controversial “demonetisation” scheme of November 2016.

Das has worked with various government bodies and was part of the economic affairs ministry when Modi announced his controversial cash ban that scrapped 86 percent of notes overnight.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2018