Economist Urjit R Patel, a consultant with Boston Consulting Group, will fill the gap created by the retirement of RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn, sources familiar with the developments said.

Emerging reports suggest that Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram has already approved Mr. Patel's name for the crucial post of deputy governor in charge of monetary policy at RBI, and a formal announcement could be made shortly.

The post became vacant on December 31, after Mr. Gokarn left the office after a three-year term and one-month extension.

Mr. Patel, who holds a PhD in economics from Yale University, is credited with more than a decade's experience in the Indian financial sector with a strong focus on funding private-sector infrastructure projects.

Mr. Patel has already worked for the RBI as an advisor, and also has an experience of working with the finance ministry, which makes the perfect choice for the post of deputy governor at the central bank.

However, Mr. Patel's task in determining the monetary policy will certainly not be an easy task as the government and the central bank have wide differences as far as interest rate cut is concerned. While the government has long been trying to convince the RBI to cut repo rate to boost economy, the central bank has kept the repo rate 8 per cent since April due to high rate of inflation.