New Delhi: The government is considering extending chief economic adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian’s term, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hired Subramanian in 2014 for three years due to end in October, the people said, asking not to be named as they aren’t authorized to speak to the media.
Subramanian is on leave from the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics, where he’s a senior fellow.
Speculation has been swirling about the fate of Subramanian after Arvind Panagariya, vice chairman of the government’s key policy planning body, resigned last month following opposition from labour unions affiliated with Modi’s ruling party.
Finance Ministry spokesman D.S. Malik didn’t reply to a call seeking comment.
Subramanian is known for overhauling India’s economic survey, freshening it up with the use of big data and addressing topics that appeal to a wider audience outside of policy wonks.
In the latest report published last month, his team warned that the fiscal outlook for India is clouded and called for borrowing costs to be cut. Bloomberg