An academic and former executive with Credit Suisse Group AG and Julius Baer Group, Dr. Venkatraman Anantha Nageswaran has been appointed as the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) to the Government of India.

Dr. Nageswaran succeeds former CEA KV Subramanian who returned to academia at the end of his three-year tenure in December.

Dr. Nageswaran’s appointment comes at a time when India’s economy is showing signs of recovery but at the same time, it also faced fresh challenges due to the impact of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He along with the finance ministry will have to tackle challenges such as income inequality and growing unemployment among its billion-plus population.

The new CEA will be responsible for providing fresh ideas to bolster growth, investments and limiting fiscal deficit.
In his new role, Nageswaran would be required to share views on key policy matters with the finance minister as well as being the lead author of the Economic Survey, which is the annual report card of the economy that gets tabled in Parliament ahead of the budget.