Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday dismissed as “media creation” reported differences between the government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D Subbarao. “I have already explained about the media-created differences between the government and RBI (governor),” he said, when asked if “his problem with the RBI governor was because he did not oblige with the rate cut?”
“You asked the question again. After two days, I will give the same answer,” he said after a meeting with South Zone chief ministers and top officials of public sector banks and financial institutions.
A day after Chidambaram asked RBI to speed up the process of issuing new bank licences, Subbarao said last Friday that it would not be possible without fulfilling the enabling conditions. After RBI’s hawkish stance on the rate cut recently, the minister had also said the government would walk alone to face challenges on the growth path, if needed.