Rajan says don’t go euphoric over Indian economy’s growth while explaining ‘one-eyed king’ remark

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan explained his “one-eyed king” remark, saying his comments were hung out dry out of context.

Rajan had likened India being the fastest-growing major economy to a case of the one-eyed man being king in the land of the blind.
The RBI Governor said his comments were interpreted as having denigrated the country's success rather than emphasising on the need to do more.


He warned against "euphoric" about India being the fastest-growing economy, saying the country has a long way to go before it claims to have arrived.

"As a central banker who has to be pragmatic, I cannot get euphoric if India is the fastest growing large economy," he said.

Stating that the per-capita income of Indians remains lowest among BRICS, Rajan said, "We have a long way to go before we can claim we have arrived. We need to repeat this performance (economic growth) for 20 years before we can give each Indian a decent livelihood."

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had opposed Rajan's remarks and said when compared with the rest of the world, Indian economy was growing much faster and, in fact, the fastest.

However, Rajan said commonly used words or proverbs can "most easily and deliberately be misinterpreted".

(Image: Indiatimes)