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Former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Raghuram G Rajan, on Wednesday took charge as Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) in the Finance Ministry. Expressing delight over his appointment, Rajan said: "As you know the world economy faces very serious challenges right now and India is no exception." "So, I hope that over the coming days I can help in whatever solutions we devise (in dealing with the challenges),"he added. Rajan, who received his PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1991 with the thesis 'Essays on Banking', will now be a key member of Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's team. Rajan graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1985, and he completed the Master of Business Administration at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad in 1987. Rajan's previous work with the Indian Government includes his helmsmanship of a Planning Commission-appointed committee on financial reforms, and as honorary economic adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The position of the Chief Economic Adviser had been lying vacant since Kaushik Basu's term ended on July 31.

Raghuram Rajan takes charge as Chief Economic Adviser in Finance Ministry