Raghuram Rajan

“Everyone may have some advise for the RBI. Some may advise, 'Cut your lending rates and raise the deposit rate.' How will a bank function? We take a medium term view. The bank has an 80-year-old history. I don't want to destroy it for a few decisions.”

“In emerging markets, slow growth in the advanced economies has shut down a traditional development path: export-led growth. As a result, emerging markets have had to rely once again on domestic demand. This is always a difficult task, given the temptation to over-stimulate.”

“As a country that does not belong to any power bloc, India cannot afford to put itself in the position of needing multilateral support - a trap into which even developed countries, like Portugal and Spain, have fallen.”

“We should make sure that unscrupulous schools do not prey on uninformed students, leaving them with high debt and useless degrees.”

“By killing transparency and competition, crony capitalism is harmful to free enterprise, opportunity, and economic growth. And by substituting special interests for the public interest, it is harmful to democratic expression.”

“I have said repeatedly that the way to sustainable growth is to bring down inflation to much more reasonable levels.”

“Central bankers have had enormous responsibilities thrust on them to compensate, essentially, for the failings of the political system. And my worry is we don't have sufficient tools to do that, but we're not willing to say it.”

“Indian-ness, love for your country, is complicated. For every person, there is a different way that you show respect for your country... my mother-in-law will say karmayogi is the way to go - do your work.”

“What is important for a central banker is that you have to convey that you know what you are doing.”

“The more that everyone has access to the same educational opportunities, the more society will tend to accept some receiving disproportionate rewards. After all, they themselves have a chance to be winners.”

“If anybody was to look towards a big source of demand in future, it would be hard for them to miss India.”

“If economists were to wait for careful studies before offering opinions about policy, we would never have anything timely to say.”

“The first step to prescribing the right medicine is to recognize the cause of the illness. And, when it comes to what is ailing the global economy, extreme monetary easing has been more cause than cure. The sooner we recognize that, the stronger and more sustainable the global economic recovery will be.”

“It is the central bank governor, unlike other regulators or government secretaries, who has command over significant policy levers and has to occasionally disagree with the most powerful people in the country.”

“The few emerging economies that have avoided booms and busts have done so by adhering to sound policy frameworks.”

“I am an academic, and I have always made it clear that my ultimate home is in the realm of ideas.”

“The idea was never for me to be a career bureaucrat or career technocrat; it was more about where I could implement ideas and reform programs.”

“The Reserve Bank cannot just exist; its ability to say 'no' has to be protected.”

“In India, we say one thing, and we do something else.”

“Politicians know that structural reforms - to increase competition, foster innovation, and drive institutional change - are the way to tackle structural impediments to growth. But they know that while the pain from reform is immediate, gains are typically delayed and their beneficiaries uncertain.”