RBI governor D Subbarao compares spiralling haircut costs and inflation

MUMBAI: Reserve Bank Governor Duvuuri Subbarao today cited his receding hairline and the high rates for his hair cut to make a point on inflation.

He said he used to pay Rs 25 for a haircut 20 years ago which went up to Rs 50 even as his hair thinned.

However, in recent times, though the hair growth has been almost nil, he is paying Rs 150 for a haircut.

"Now when I have virtually no hair left, I pay Rs 150 for a haircut," the career bureaucrat-turned-central banker said to a laughter from the audience comprising a top official from the European Central Bank's statistical department, many academics from the field of statistics and economic analysts.

The Governor said : "I struggle to determine how much of that is inflation, how much is the premium I am paying to the barber for the privilege of cutting the Governor's non-existing hair".