T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan: Why the CPI-M must oppose the IFC | Business Standard Column
T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan: Why the CPI-M must oppose the IFC | Business Standard Column
My VIEW:
Online comments postedon August 2, 2015:
As pointed out in the article, former RBI Deputy Governor Usha Thorat in her recent article in the Indian Express has brilliantly argued the case for not rushing through the IFC at this stage. Economist and former Deputy Governor S S Tarapore has consistently argued the need to retain the present capabilities of RBI unscathed. Views of these two ex-RBites and the approach of this article, incidentally, reflect the thinking of those who are aware of the evolution of RBI as a performing central bank in the Indian context. This institution cannot be compared with central banks in other countries with limited central banking functions. GOI has been dependent on RBI on several occasions in the past for coming out of tricky situations. It is not accidental that GOI, irrespective of political colour, has been ensuring strong leadership for RBI. We need not be apologetic and leave the responsibility of protecting the autonomy of RBI to CPI-M or to any single political party for that matter. WE THE PEOPLE should take the responsibility of fighting the disruptive forces at work within the country and outside which are waiting to encash the weakness of the financial regulator. Three brief points: 1. Let us not assume that Dr Raghuram G Rajan's term is coming to a close in 2016. It will be in the county’s interest for GOI to seriously persuade him to accept another term, this time preferably full five years, till 2021. 2. Let us trust both the ministers, Jaitley and Sinha when they say they are open on IFC. FSLRC report need to be revisited, giving a second reading together with the notes of dissent and the relevance of the recommendations in the present Indian context. Especially because, dissent within the Commission was handled roughly by the Chairman and even the brief dissenting notes recorded by members of the Commission did not get the attention they deserved. There is need for fresh debate for which this article and the observations made by the two former Deputy Governors mentioned earlier can form the basis. 3. RBI's autonomy or independence of monetary policy within the contours of government policy is not an issue just affecting those at the helm of the central bank. The stability of India's financial sector is dependent on that. M G Warrier, Mumbai
My VIEW:
Online comments postedon August 2, 2015:
As pointed out in the article, former RBI Deputy Governor Usha Thorat in her recent article in the Indian Express has brilliantly argued the case for not rushing through the IFC at this stage. Economist and former Deputy Governor S S Tarapore has consistently argued the need to retain the present capabilities of RBI unscathed. Views of these two ex-RBites and the approach of this article, incidentally, reflect the thinking of those who are aware of the evolution of RBI as a performing central bank in the Indian context. This institution cannot be compared with central banks in other countries with limited central banking functions. GOI has been dependent on RBI on several occasions in the past for coming out of tricky situations. It is not accidental that GOI, irrespective of political colour, has been ensuring strong leadership for RBI. We need not be apologetic and leave the responsibility of protecting the autonomy of RBI to CPI-M or to any single political party for that matter. WE THE PEOPLE should take the responsibility of fighting the disruptive forces at work within the country and outside which are waiting to encash the weakness of the financial regulator. Three brief points: 1. Let us not assume that Dr Raghuram G Rajan's term is coming to a close in 2016. It will be in the county’s interest for GOI to seriously persuade him to accept another term, this time preferably full five years, till 2021. 2. Let us trust both the ministers, Jaitley and Sinha when they say they are open on IFC. FSLRC report need to be revisited, giving a second reading together with the notes of dissent and the relevance of the recommendations in the present Indian context. Especially because, dissent within the Commission was handled roughly by the Chairman and even the brief dissenting notes recorded by members of the Commission did not get the attention they deserved. There is need for fresh debate for which this article and the observations made by the two former Deputy Governors mentioned earlier can form the basis. 3. RBI's autonomy or independence of monetary policy within the contours of government policy is not an issue just affecting those at the helm of the central bank. The stability of India's financial sector is dependent on that. M G Warrier, Mumbai
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M G Warrier