RBI Governor meets Chidambaram, discusses economic situation

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on Thursday met Finance Minister P Chidambaram and discussed the macroeconomic situation.

"We exchanged our views on the current macroeconomic situation," Rajan told reporters after the meeting, which was also attended by Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram.

Rajan had surprised the markets by leaving all key policy rates unchanged at the mid-quarter policy review on December 18, notwithstanding persistent high inflationary pressure.

A key short-term lending rate was kept unchanged at 7.75 per cent, while the cash reserve ratio remained at 4 per cent.

Rajan was Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry before taking over as RBI Governor on September 4. He had increased the key rate by 0.50 per cent in two instalments.