Raghuram Rajan takes over as Chief Economic Advisor

New Delhi, Aug 29 (IANS) Raghuram G Rajan, former IMF chief economist, took charge as chief economic adviser (CEA) in the finance ministry Wednesday.

"I am glad to be here," Rajan told media persons after taking charge.

"The world economy faces serious challenges and India is no exception. I hope that in the next days I can help contribute to whatever solutions we devise in tackling these challenges."

The Cabinet Appointments Committee had Aug 10 cleared Rajan's appointment as the new CEA.

Rajan, who will be a key member of Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's team, was honorary economic adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

An alumni of Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad and IIT-Delhi, Rajan did his doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He is highly acclaimed for predicting the 2008 global financial crisis.

The position of the CEA has been lying vacant since Kaushik Basu's term ended on July 31.

Rajan was also involved with the report on Financial Sector Reforms authorized by the Planning Commission.