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D Subbarao was the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor during the worst phase of the global financial crisis and had to manage the fallout in a way to ensure minimum impact on India. That the country successfully minimised the impact on the economy and fared the best during and after the crisis period speaks volumes about the man and his policies. However, his relationship with the UPA government was not always the best. Differences, especially with FM P Chidambaram that spilled over to the public sphere frequently. However, Subbbarao says while he honestly described his differences in his new book ('Who Moved My Interest Rates – Leading the Reserve Bank of India through Five Turbulent Years'), Chidambaram was good enough to still endorse it. Check out here what he had to say about the former FM: (Reuters)
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1. D Subbarao: "He (Chidambaram) has been very magnanimous about endorsing my book and he has been very professional about it… I was not uniformly charitable to him as well. I talked about my differences with him in the book, but I also talked about some positive things about him. I am grateful to him for the endorsement he gave". (PTI)
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2. D Subbarao (on recalling differences with Chidambaram on appointing a panel on liquidity management in mid-October 2008 under then finance secretary Arun Ramanathan): "I was annoyed and upset by this decision. Chidambaram had clearly overstepped into RBI turf as liquidity management is a quintessential central bank function. Not only did he not consult me, but he had not even inform me of this before the notification was issued." (Reuters)
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3. D Subbarao: "Both Chidambaram and Mukherjee were piqued by the RBI's tight interest rate policy on the ground that high interest rates were inhibiting investment and hurting growth. I have been asked several times if there was pressure from the government on setting interest rates. There certainly was, although the precise psychological mechanics of pressure would vary depending on the context, setting and personalities." (PTI)
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4. D Subbarao: (RBI's tight leash on inflation and and with growth plummeting, Chidambaram unveiled a fiscal roadmap just before the RBI policy meet in October 2012. And not just that soon after the RBI's policy statement, Chidambaram said, "Growth is as much a concern as inflation. If the government has to walk alone to face the challenge of growth, we will walk alone." (PTI)
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5. D Subbarao (On "unpleasant experience" with then FM Pranab Mukherjee. This was after the April 2012 policy review following 13 rate hikes, when the the repo rate was cut by 0.50 per cent): "Then finance minister Mukherjee was scheduled to address a business chamber in Delhi an hour before the policy release time. As he was entering the meeting hall, he commented informally to the corporates and the media that surrounded and greeted him – that 'the governor will shortly give you good news'. (Reuters)
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