FILE PHOTO: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel pauses during a news conference after a monetary policy review in Mumbai, India, December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo

(Reuters) -Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel has been appointed as executive director at the International Monetary Fund, a government statement showed on Friday.

Patel has been appointed for a period of three years.

He took over as the RBI governor from Raghuram Rajan in September 2016 and resigned from the post in December 2018, citing personal reasons.

The resignation came after a prolonged public spat between the RBI and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

(Reporting by Nikunj Ohri and Manvi Pant; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)