'Central Bank Governor's role has become more political, needs someone who understands': Raghuram Rajan amid BoE speculation

Amid talks that former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan was approached or applied to take up the role of Bank Of England Governor, Rajan clarifies in an interview to an international news agency that he did not apply for the job. 

"I am perfectly happy with my job. I have not applied for any job. I believe that Central Bank's job has become much more political, for that its important that country has somebody who understands the political structure and how to navigate that. Its obvious I am an outsider and I have very little understanding of the politics of this country," he said. 

Rajan served as the RBI Governor from 2013 to 2016, and as the Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2003 to 2007. After exiting RBI he went back to Chicago to continue his work as an academician. Even early last year, he had refuted similar speculations of him taking the top job at the Bank of England.

Notably, Rajan is not the only Indian in the race. Shristi Vadera, the chairperson of Santander UK, is also among the six probable replacements for Carney despite no experience with central banks. She, however, is known for her work as a no-nonsense minister in the Gordon Brown government.

READ: Privatisation of PSBs not panacea; need to cut government mandates for PSBs: Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan

Earlier,  Raghuram Rajan had said that India will eventually surpass China in economic size and will be in a better position to create the infrastructure being promised by the Chinese side in South Asian countries. Addressing a session on Strategic Outlook for South Asia, Rajan said Indian economy would continue to grow while the growth rate is slowing down in China. "Historically, India had a bigger role in the region but China has now grown much bigger than India and has presented itself as a counterbalance to India in the region," Rajan said at the WEF Annual Meeting 2019.

READ: India To Become Bigger Than China Eventually: Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan

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