Dialogue with govt did not reach a point where I could stay on: Raghuram Rajan

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Outgoing RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on Wednesday said that he has never been “worried about reappointment” or future prospects of having a “career in the government”.

“Dialogue with the government did not reach a point where I could stay on, ” Rajan, who refused to accept a second term at helm of the Reserve Bank said in an exclusive interview to CNBC TV18.

After his decision to return back to academia, there have been voices suggesting that his candid public speeches were one of the aspects which made the government uncomfortable about re-appointing Rajan for another term.

“I have tried to address legitimate criticism against my policies,” Rajan said. “In hindsight, all mistakes have been because we were too pliant,” he added.

The RBI governor said that he has been very open to innovation on reform process adding that it is very important to convince the public the reason behind policy moves.

At an interaction with select news agencies in the evening after announcing the RBI monetary policy yesterday, Rajan said that every economic problem stems from people looking for magic bullets which have no pain, Rajan said most our problems are orthodox, which need orthodox solutions.

He strongly defended his controversial public speeches as "perfectly legitimate" ones within the remit of a central bank head and asserted that he was never critical of the government in any instance.

"These are perfectly legitimate speeches. You can interpret them any which ways you want," Rajan said.

"Some of those speeches have been on economic issues but outside the monetary policy. But those economic issues are perfectly within the remit of the central bank because ultimately we have a remit of macrostability," he said.