Raghuram Rajan says speeches never criticised government

Rajan will step down as governor of the Reserve Bank of India had raised speculation that some of his speech had upset Narendra Modi's nationalist govt

RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said on Tuesday he had never criticised the government in speeches that had triggered strong criticism from right-wing political leaders.

Rajan will step down as governor of the Reserve Bank of India on September 4 and his surprise decision not to make himself available for an second term had raised speculation that some of his speeches had upset Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nationalist government.

"In none of the speeches I have given has there been an explicit criticism or an implicit criticism of the government," Rajan told journalists following a policy review.

"Some of those speeches have been on economic issues outside of monetary policy. I think those economic issues are perfectly within the remit of the central bank because ultimately we have a remit of macro stability."

Rajan also strongly defended a speech on social tolerance, which was heavily criticised by some government officials as meddling into political areas.