The new governor of the Reserve Bank of India is likely to be announced next week, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Africa tour, a senior official told PTI. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan’s tenure ends on September 4.

Reports said that the government had short-listed four candidates to succeed Rajan. The list included current RBI Deputy Governor Urjit Patel, former deputy governors of the central bank Rakesh Mohan and Subir Gokarn, and Chairperson of the State Bank of India Arundhati Bhattacharya, a senior government official had told Reuters. Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das is also a contender for the post, PTI said.

Rajan’s tenure will be the shortest of any RBI governor's since 1991, as he recently announced that he will return to academia and not take a second term. His move came after severe criticism from Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Subramanian Swamy, who claimed he was not mentally “fully Indian”. Swamy had asked the Centre to suspend Rajan more than once, and had written to the Centre, claimed that the RBI chief kept interest rates high on purpose, while accusing him of leaking "sensitive financial information".