RBI governor Rajan meets Modi ahead of monetary policy review

New Delhi: Ahead of monetary policy review on Tuesday, Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is likely to have discussed the macro-economic situation and issues related to price rise. The RBI's bi-monthly policy review on June 3 will be the first after Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office on May 26.

Last week, Rajan also met the newly appointed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and had said fighting price increase is a priority, stressing that the central bank has always maintained a balance between the need to check inflation and prop up growth. "Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Raghuram Rajan called on Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at 7, Race Course Road. It was a courtesy call," an official statement said. India's economic growth stayed below 5 per cent for the second year in a row at 4.7 per cent in 2013-14. Growth remained subdued at 4.6 per cent in the fourth quarter.

The Reserve Bank of India may leave key interest rates unchanged in its June 3 monetary policy review as Rajan is likely to prefer containing stubborn inflation before conceding to demands for a rate cut to boost growth. "RBI is likely to maintain status quo as inflation is still high and the threat of monsoon being weak this time is looming large," Indian Overseas Bank Chairman and Managing Director M Narendra said. Rajan had kept the policy rate unchanged at 8 per cent in its April 1 review as inflation, especially of food items, hovered at over 8 per cent. Food inflation in April stood at 9.66 per cent and retail inflation was at 8.59 per cent.