Discussion on monetary policy committee not top of list currently: Rajan

Govt, RBI are at odds over composition of the committee

Talks between the Reserve Bank of India and the government have not yet focused on the composition of a planned monetary policy committee, a key plank of proposed structural changes, the bank's governor said in a newspaper interview on Friday.

The government and the RBI have been at odds over several proposed changes to regulation, including the creation of an independent public debt management office and the specific composition of the planned monetary policy committee.

Governor Raghuram Rajan said in an interview with the Hindu newspaper that the central bank is "on the same page" as the government on many issues.

"On some issues, we are trying to persuade one another. But dialogue keeps going on... and some of the things you think that are on our radar screen aren't," he told the newspaper.

"Just as an example, we are not talking about the Monetary Policy Committee composition right now. That's not the front thing on our radar screen."

In the interview in Washington, Rajan also said the Indian economy was picking up but reiterated concerns with a government growth forecast of 7.5% for the last fiscal year which ended in March, as that would have required significant growth in the March quarter -- a jump not reflected in high frequency data monitored by the central bank.

"That would bring down the estimated growth for 2014-15 a little, but broadly speaking the economy is seeing the early signs of a recovery," he said.