NEW DELHI: Traditionally, the chief economic advisor, a professional economist in a sea of bureaucrats, sat in one corner of the North Block.
But weeks after taking charge as the government's chief economist, RaghuramRajan moved into a first floor room, adjacent to finance minister PChidambaram's, signalling a shift in power equations.
In the year that Rajan has spent on Raisina Hill, he has gained in stature and enjoys the confidence that few of his predecessors enjoyed. From being an economist focused onbanking and finance, Raghu, as colleagues call him, was slowly initiated into complex issues dealing with the political economyin a chaotic democracy.
Walking into office in the midst of a full-blown fiscal crisis, Rajan surprised many with the ease with which he handled the pressures of dealing with an unwieldy fiscal deficit and other pressing macro-economic challenges.
In the year that Rajan has spent on Raisina Hill, he has gained in stature and enjoys the confidence that few of his predecessors enjoyed. From being an economist focused onbanking and finance, Raghu, as colleagues call him, was slowly initiated into complex issues dealing with the political economyin a chaotic democracy.
Walking into office in the midst of a full-blown fiscal crisis, Rajan surprised many with the ease with which he handled the pressures of dealing with an unwieldy fiscal deficit and other pressing macro-economic challenges.
His detractors, skeptical that he lacked administrative experience, were silenced when Rajan joined hands with his boss to mend the economy.
Even when it came to deciding on a key political demand from states such as Bihar and West Bengal for special category status and a debt recast, Chidambaram leaned on the 50-year-old Raghu to find a way out. Before he shifts to Mumbai's Mint Road, Rajan would've finalized the contours of a possible policy change, based on a soon-to-be ready development index against the current system of gauging states on the basis of geography.
When it came to core issues, the government invariably turned to the engineer turned-economist. The sharp slide in the rupee prompted the government to draft Rajan in as one of the main firefighters to draw up a plan to increase dollar inflows. Unlike the hush-hush way in which decisions were taken in the past, Rajan invited private and foreign bankers to North Block to stitch up a plan to navigate the rupee out of choppy waters. Based on his inputs, the government announced its intent to go for quasisovereign bonds, without ruling out the possibility of India's first sovereign fund-raising. Be it calming the jittery markets or over-enthusiastic reporters, he used all his charm and intellect, sometimes switching to Hindi. His rockstar appeal attracted a swarm of eager listeners wherever he was listed to speak.
Picking up from where his predecessor left, Rajan moved to reshape the dowdy Economic Survey that is tabled a day ahead of the Union Budget. Drafting many young economists in the Economic Division, he ensured new thoughts run through the pages of the economic report card. And, he will leave his imprint behind with a quarterly update.
Even when it came to deciding on a key political demand from states such as Bihar and West Bengal for special category status and a debt recast, Chidambaram leaned on the 50-year-old Raghu to find a way out. Before he shifts to Mumbai's Mint Road, Rajan would've finalized the contours of a possible policy change, based on a soon-to-be ready development index against the current system of gauging states on the basis of geography.
When it came to core issues, the government invariably turned to the engineer turned-economist. The sharp slide in the rupee prompted the government to draft Rajan in as one of the main firefighters to draw up a plan to increase dollar inflows. Unlike the hush-hush way in which decisions were taken in the past, Rajan invited private and foreign bankers to North Block to stitch up a plan to navigate the rupee out of choppy waters. Based on his inputs, the government announced its intent to go for quasisovereign bonds, without ruling out the possibility of India's first sovereign fund-raising. Be it calming the jittery markets or over-enthusiastic reporters, he used all his charm and intellect, sometimes switching to Hindi. His rockstar appeal attracted a swarm of eager listeners wherever he was listed to speak.
Picking up from where his predecessor left, Rajan moved to reshape the dowdy Economic Survey that is tabled a day ahead of the Union Budget. Drafting many young economists in the Economic Division, he ensured new thoughts run through the pages of the economic report card. And, he will leave his imprint behind with a quarterly update.
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