Raghuram Rajan, an Indian analyst, has been chosen as the new International Monetary Fund chief economist.

IMF managing director Horst Koehler in a statement said, "Mr Rajan has been at the forefront of work on banking and financial sector issues."

"With his exceptional rise within the economics profession as well as with his extensive experience, Mr Rajan will bring a strong and proven record of intellectual leadership to the IMF," the statement added.

Rajan, who is the finance professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, will take over from Kenneth Rogoff.

Talking to a news agency, Rajan said, "I do think that one of the reasons for my appointment is that the IMF wants to spend more time on financial sector issues and on banking."

"Those certainly will be areas that I will look a little more at: how to ensure greater financial sector stability and how to ensure greater banking stability," he was quoted as saying.

Agencies