World Bank chief calls Rajan ‘great’ central bank guv

New Delhi, June 30: Describing Raghuram Rajan as a “great” central bank governor, World Bank president Jim Yong Kim on Thursday said he has been told by the Indian leadership that the Reserve Bank will continue to have an independent head.

“What I heard from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and members of his team is that there is not going to be much change. They will continue to have an independent central bank governor, and the policies that have lead to good outcomes will continue,” Kim said in an interview to a TV channel.

The World Bank president described the Reserve Bank chief as a "great" central bank governor, saying he tremendously respects Rajan as an academic. Rajan, the prime minister and the government have been communicating very effectively, Kim added.

To a question whether he trusts India's GDP numbers, Kim said: “This (methodology of calculation of GDP numbers) is not an exact science, there is no Physics in this, it is really taking many different pieces of data and then making a best guess.”

“...It (methodology) is taking many indicators and then in a consistent way doing best to make an estimate. Because we have been consistent over time, we feel very comfortable with these number (India's GDP numbers),” he said.

The Indian economy grew at 7.9% in the fourth quarter of 2015-16, taking the overall GDP growth to a five-year high of 7.6% for the fiscal.

Citing example of China, the World Bank president said: “I would say this is not new, there are many people who question China's growth numbers, there are many people who question everybody's growth numbers.”

Kim also said that there can be questions about the methodology of GDP calculation, and the World Bank invites these questions about methodology. PTI

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim