WASHINGTON:  Prominent Indian-American business executive Neel Kashkari was today appointed as the head of the US Federal Reserve’s regional bank in Minneapolis.

Mr Kashkari, who was once a Republican gubernatorial candidate in California, would replace another Indian-American Narayana Kocherlakota whose tenure as CEO and president ends on December 31.

“Kashkari is the right person to build on the Minneapolis Fed’s core strengths and successfully lead the Bank into the future,” said Randall Hogan, chairman of the Minneapolis Fed’s board of directors and co-chair of the search committee.

As president of the Minneapolis Fed, the 42-year-old will participate on the Federal Open Market Committee in the formulation of US monetary policy.

He will oversee 1,100 employees. “I am truly honoured to have the opportunity to lead the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. I look forward to working with the Bank’s dedicated staff and continuing the Bank’s long-standing tradition of excellent service to the Ninth Federal Reserve District and to the nation,” Mr Kashkari said.

“The Minneapolis Fed has built a strong reputation for economic research and thought leadership as well as excellence in Bank operations. I am delighted that I will be working with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis team to build on the Bank’s many achievements,” he said.

Mr Kashkari had earlier served in the US Department of the Treasury from 2006 to 2009, first as senior adviser to Secretary Henry Paulson and then as assistant secretary of the Treasury.

In the latter role, he established and led the Office of Financial Stability and oversaw the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) for both Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama.

Mr Kashkari holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that make up the Federal Reserve System, the nation’s central bank.