MUMBAI—The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Urjit Patel, resigned suddenly on Dec. 10, following months of pressure from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government that is threatening the independence of the central bank, sending the rupee tumbling.
Government officials have been complaining in the past few months that the central bank should allow lenders to make loans more easily, and want the RBI to hand over some of its surplus reserves to help fund the fiscal deficit.
