India : Raghuram Rajan says was willing to stay as RBI governor

MUMBAI : India’s outgoing Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday he would have been willing to remain at the central bank to finish pending tasks, but was unable to reach a deal with the government.

Rajan, in an interview with TV channel India Today, said among the remaining tasks had been a clean-up of soured loans at state-owned banks and the establishment of a monetary policy committee to set interest rates, which has yet to be formed.

“Because of these unfinished tasks, I was willing to stay, provided we could reach the right kind of agreement,” said Rajan. “I think we just didn’t reach an agreement.”

He declined to specify which type of agreement he had sought.

A senior government official had told Reuters in June that Rajan had signaled his willingness to remain beyond the end of his term on Sept. 4, but was unable to agree with the government on the length of the extended term.

Turning to inflation Rajan reiterated he expected consumer inflation in August would fall below the 6.07 percent hit in the previous month.