Don’t write me off, says Rajan

Bengaluru, June 22: Taking a dig at those writing his “obituaries”, RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on Wednesday said that he will be around “a lot in India” even after leaving the central bank and should not be written off as yet.

The comments come within days of Dr Rajan making public his reluctance to serve a second term at RBI after his current three-year tenure ends on September 4.

“I feel like in the last few days I have read a lot of my obituaries and I’m still here. I’m still here for two-and-half months in this job. After that, I’m still going to be around somewhere in the world, probably a lot in India, so don’t write me off,” Dr Rajan said.

During the question- and-answer session, he further, said, “The only thing I will say is that... I read these obituaries in the papers, (but) I am still alive. I will leave this office in September, but I certainly will be coming in and out of the country on numerous occasions.”

“I will be reading and writing and I will be speaking at fora like this,” said Dr Rajan, who has been hailed as a ‘rockstar’ central banker for containing inflation and checking rupee volatility despite global headwinds.

Dr Rajan, the former chief economist at IMF who is credited for predicting the 2008 global financial crisis, made this observation at the start of his speech at an interactive industry meet organised by business chamber Assocham. — PTI

“I feel like in the last few days I have read a lot of my obituaries and I’m still here. I’m still here for two-and-half months in this job. After that, I’m still going to be around somewhere in the world, probably a lot in India, so don’t write me off.” DR RAGHURAM RAJAN, GOVERNOR, RBI