Modi names critical ex-IMF man to Rajan's old post

New Delhi

THE Indian government on Friday named former International Monetary Fund (IMF) official Arvind Subramanian as its new chief economic adviser, a position left vacant for a year after Raghuram Rajan was appointed central bank governor.

Mr Subramanian was a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, where he criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first budget for its "implausible" revenue projections. He has also been critical of India's method of blocking a World Trade Organization (WTP) pact and has said that Mr Modi as chief minister of Gujarat was a "mediocre performer" when it came to tax collections.