Quotes from Urjit Patel

Very few countries grow at high rate if inflation is high and volatile. I think, in a way, we are doing our bit to support a higher growth rate, but on a durable basis.

There is little room for complacency, and it is important to guard against sporadic volatility in financial markets.

The lack of a consistent policy from major economies is the main source of volatility.

As many have pointed out, it is not clear that we need so many public sector banks. The system could be better off if they are consolidated into fewer but healthier banks.

We have been mandated by the government, backed by legislation, that we have to have an inflation target of about 4%.

I think it is important that we should be on the side of keeping borders open with respect to trade and movement of factors of production.

If one sees far, structural changes that come with temporary disruptions can be growth- and efficiency-augmenting in the medium to long term.

Remonetisation has happened at a fast pace, and that was part of the plan that, subsequent to the withdrawal of the specified bank notes, our production plans and supply processes would ensure that the remonetisation happened as quickly as possible.

I think that it is important that one grows a thick skin fast in this business, and I think we have done that.

What is important is that in a capital-scarce country like India, the real interest rate needs to be positive enough to encourage healthy growth of financial savings; we get into macro difficulties when real rates on financial savings become negative for a length of time.

Government should eschew suasion and directives to banks on interest rates that run counter to monetary policy actions.

The monetary policy committee could either keep rates constant, increase them, or bring them down. There are three options possible compared to when it is accommodative.

It is important to recognise near- and medium-term risks to the inflation outlook.

We should redefine the metric for effective lending, viz., prioritise loans to enterprises, which will generate more employment.

If very fundamental reforms take place, especially when it comes to factors of production like land, labour, then a higher growth rate is possible.

The materialisation of reforms in the form of rollout of the GST, the institution of Indian Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, and the abolition of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board should boost investor and investment confidence.

One of the things that the public sector banks need to do is to raise private capital from the market and not rely on government largesse.

This is a once in a lifetime event. It is very rare to remove 86% of the currency in circulation in one go. The logistics of such an operation are mammoth.

I think that is a very important milestone in our economic history that the monetary policy is now determined through a committee process where there are both independent committee members and representation from the RBI.

Growth is always there in the MPC's scheme of things; we don't lose sight of that, but not at the cost of inflation.

The RBI is interacting with the banks every day.

Monetary policy transmission encompasses the whole continuum of interest rates; of course, the central bank only determines the overnight policy rate.

Enhanced transparency has helped to reinforce the stability of India's financial system.

From the RBI side, the fake Indian currency note is an important issue that needed to be addressed. The other collateral benefits from this, in terms of greater accountability, better public finance, more transparency, are, by definition, areas that take time to fully play out.