Dr.Bimal Jalan
was appointed Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in November
1997. He demitted office as Governor in September 2003 on his nomination
to the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of India's Parliament, by the
President for distinguished service to the country.
During this period, the Reserve Bank successfully managed the impact
of the East Asian crisis and its aftermath; substantially strengthened
India's balance of payments position resulting in one of the highest
levels of foreign exchange reserves in the world; maintained a low
inflation environment with interest rates reduced to historic lows;
promoted wide-ranging reforms in the financial sector; and introduced
best international practices in respect of capitalization, disclosure
and prudential norms in the banking sector.
Before taking over as Governor, Dr.Jalan held several high level
positions in India and abroad. In India , he has served as Chief
Economic Adviser to the Government, Banking Secretary, Finance Secretary,
Member-Secretary of the Planning Commission, and Chairman of the
Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.
Born in 1941, Dr.Jalan was educated at Calcutta, Cambridge and Oxford
Universities . He has been Chairman/President of a number of distinguished
academic institutions, including the Indian Statistical Institute,
Kolkata, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai,
National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi and Institute
of Economic Growth , New Delhi.
He has been closely associated with International financial Institutions,
particularly the IMF and the World Bank in Washington . He served
as a member of the staff of both institutions, and also represented
India on their Executive Boards at different points of time during
his professional career. He was Director of Economic Affairs at
the Commonwealth Secretariat in London , and a senior member of
the staff of the Commission for International Development in Washington
(chaired by Late Lester Pearson, Prime Minister of Canada).
He has written extensively on the Indian economy. Books by Bimal
Jalan on the economy include India’s
Economic Crisis: The Way Ahead (Oxford University Press, 1991),
The Indian
Economy: Problems and Prospects (Penguin, 1993), India’s
Economic Policy: Preparing for the 21st Century (Viking/Penguin,
1997), and India’s
Economy in the New Millennium - Selected Essays (UBS Publishers,
2002), His earlier publications include Problems
and Policies in Small Economies (Croom Helm, London, 1982) and
Essays
in Development Policy (Macmillan, 1975)
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