Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan met Finance Minister Arun Jaitely
Posted on: 28/May/2014 2:11:17 PM
Raghuram Rajan, the Governor of Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday met Arun Jaitely hours after he took charge as the new finance minister. Dr Rajan said he discussed a range of issues with the finance minister.
After the meeting, Dr Rajan said the central bank has always balanced GDP-inflation and will continue to do so. Earlier in the day, Mr Jaitley had said that a "balancing act" will have to done when asked whether the new government would focus on inflation at the cost of growth.
In the past, Dr Rajan has been criticized by some members of the BJP for the series of interest rate hikes to curb inflation. The RBI wants to bring down consumer price inflation to around 6 per cent by January 2016, which would probably mean more interest rate increases. The central bank has already raised rates thrice since September.
Dr Rajan took charge of the central bank in September 2013, when the country faced a currency crisis. Since then, the rupee has gained nearly 15 per cent. India`s current account deficit, which hit a record low last year, has also narrowed sharply and in the March quarter, it fell to a five-year low.
Dr Rajan, a former International Monetary Fund chief economist is widely viewed as India`s most capable technocrat. Before moving to the RBI, Dr Rajan, 51, served as chief economic adviser to the finance ministry under the Congress party-led government.
