No 'immediate plans' to write tell-all memoir

Outgoing Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan, known for his outspoken ways, has no “immediate plans” to write a tell-all memoir on his experiences as the central bank head, unlike his predecessor Duvvuri Subbarao, whose tell-all memoir has just come out.

Rajan, accused by critics of keeping interest rates too high and often seen as being critical of the government and its policies, said he plans to write on “academic issues” after leaving the Reserve Bank.

Subbarao, who served as RBI governor for five turbulent years between 2008 and 2013, in his just-released book — Who Moved My Interest Rate? — has written about several occasions when he felt pressure from the then finance ministers P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee to cut interest rates. He also said “there is a price to pay, of course, for not falling in line”, referring to the government’s refusal to accept his recommendations in appointment of deputy governors. While a tussle has been noticed between the RBI governor and the government for years, it is said to have escalated in recent years.