Need to push for sustainable economic growth, says RBI chief Raghuram Rajan

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan said on Monday the government needed to put conditions in place for sustainable growth, without resorting to populist policies.

Rajan also warned of the difficulties in achieving quick growth, noting India would not be able to expand at 9 per cent levels overnight. He was speaking at an event in Mumbai.

Rajan also pushed for stronger multilateral agencies that can steer global coordination in tackling economic and monetary policy issues, adding emerging markets needed to be part of that debate.

Rajan further called on the International Monetary Fund to be more inclusive and not just driven by the needs of industrialised countries, while noting the agency needed to more closely examine "extreme" policies by global central banks.

The RBI governor, also urged the need for global "safety nets," while noting one proposal could be foreign exchange swap lines mediated and backed by the IMF.

(REUTERS)