Arun Jaitley is non-committal on extension of Raghuram Rajan's term

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday kept his cards close to chest by refusing to comment on whether RBI governor Raghuram Rajan’s term would be extended.

“These are not issues which we discuss through the media,” Mr Jaitley said when asked whether the government is contemplating of extending Dr Rajan’s term as the RBI governor.

Dr Rajan’s three-year term as the RBI chief is ending this September. Last week Mr Rajan had indicated his interest in getting a second term as RBI governor saying he has enjoyed every moment of the job, but there is “more to do”.

While Dr Rajan had an extraordinary success in stabilising the rupee, building up India’s forex reserves and tackling bad loans issue head-on, Dr Rajan is considered to be a fiercely independent governor, who ignored the finance ministry’s calls for a rate cut.

Last week, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had created controversy by suggesting that Dr Rajan should be removed from governorship and had accused him of being responsible for “unemployment and collapse” of industrial activity.

Meanwhile, Mr Jaitley expressed confidence that GST Bill will be passed in the upcoming monsoon session and claimed that even Congress’ UPA allies are backing the tax bill.