Silence is the best policy

A top-level secretary in the government known to share his opinion on most matters economic without much hesitation, refused to comment on the monetary policy announcement by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week. Insiders said the secretary did not want a conflict of interest to arise, as he was also in the long list of contenders for the RBI governor's position. The government has kept contenders guessing about the new appointment since mid-June when the incumbent, Raghuram Rajan, made it known that he would not be seeking a second term as RBI governor and would go back to academia instead.