In the newly published book about his days as RBI governor, Subbarao was very critical of Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee, who served as finance ministers during his tenure at the central bank during 2008 to 2013.
"He (Chidambaram) has been very magnanimous about endorsing my book and he has been very professional about it... I was not uniformly charitable to him as well," Subbarao told PTI in an interaction here last evening.
"I talked about my differences with him in the book, but I also talked about some positive things about him. I am grateful to him for the endorsement he gave," he said.
Subbarao launched his memoir earlier this month, entitled 'Who Moved My Interest Rates - Leading the Reserve Bank of India through Five Turbulent Years'.
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On why there was no endorsement from Mukherjee, Subbarao said it was not sought from the present President.
When asked why he did not mention the second term for H R Khan in the book, he said in certain deputy governor appointment, the government did "defer to my recommendation but that Khan was reappointed soon after his term only."
When pointed out that the book sort of paints himself as a 'victim of the circumstances', Subbarao said it is not so but "every governor is the creature of the times he is in."
The book is full of stories of how these ministers often
made public their differences with the RBI on decisions on policy rates.
Recalling his differences with Chidambaram on appointing a panel on liquidity management in mid-October 2008 under then finance secretary Arun Ramanathan, he says, "I was annoyed and upset by this decision. Chidambaram had clearly overstepped into RBI turf as liquidity management is a quintessential central bank function. Not only did he not consult me, but he had not even informed me of this before the notification was issued."
"I have been asked several times if there was pressure from the government on setting interest rates. There certainly was, although the precise psychological mechanics of pressure would vary depending on the context, setting and personalities."
As Subbarao kept a tight leash on inflation and growth began to plummet, Chidambaram unveiled a fiscal roadmap just before the RBI policy meet in October 2012. And not just that soon after the RBI's policy statement, Chidambaram had said, "Growth is as much a concern as inflation. If the government has to walk alone to face the challenge of growth, we will walk alone."
"Then finance minister Mukherjee was scheduled to address a business chamber in Delhi an hour before the policy release time. As he was entering the meeting hall, he commented informally to the corporates and the media that surrounded and greeted him - that 'the governor will shortly give you good news'.