Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have been working in complete harmony for the last few years.
“With RBI & Ministry, not just on crypto but on every other thing as well, I think there’s complete harmony with which we’re working, respecting each other’s domain also knowing what we’ve to do with each other’s priorities and in interest of the nation. There’s no turfing here,” she said while addressing a joint press conference with RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, after the RBI Board meet.
Speaking on discussions between RBI and the government on cryptocurrency, Das said the matter is being discussed internally between the two parties like all other issues.
“Like several other issues, this particular issue is internally under discussion b/w RBI & government. Whatever points we have, we discussed with Govt. Beyond that I think I will not like to further elaborate,” said Das.
RBI Governor on inflation
The RBI Governor also assuaged concerns regarding elevated levels of inflation, stating that balancing of price rise and growth is the top priority of the central bank and also its mandate. He said the character, content and drivers of inflation are different in India from that of advanced economies. Das maintained that the momentum of inflation is on the downward side from last October. He attributed higher inflation in the third quarter to the lower base effect, which he added will continue going ahead.
“Price stability is the uppermost conceren in our minds. It means maintaining and adhering to the inflation target. As it was explained, in the post-Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) conference by the Deputy Governor, the character and content of inflation in advanced economies is different from character and content and drivers of inflation in India”.
“If you look at the momentum of inflation from last October is on the downward slope. It’s primarily the base effect which has resulted in higher inflation especially in Q3 and the same will play in the coming months. Today’s inflation print is expected to be close to 6%. This should not cause alarm as it has been taken into consideration by us. As the growth picks up, there is a delicate balancing between inflation and growth. RBI is fully committed to its objective of growth while focussing on growth. This is what provision in law expects us to do”.
