Raghuram Rajan deserves two more terms: NR Narayana Murthy

BENGALURU: NR Narayana Murthy has added his voice to the chorus of support for Raghuram Rajan, saying the central bank chief should be offered two more terms in recognition of his track record in steering monetary policy.

In an interview, Infosys cofounder Murthy, 69, also praised the Narendra Modi government’s “dynamism and enthusiasm” and gave his successor Vishal Sikka high marks for the way he has managed Infosys.

“India should be very fortunate to have him (Rajan) serve this country for not just one, I would say two more terms,” he said. Some elements in the government are against another term for Rajan.

BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy is trenchantly opposed to Rajan.

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But the former IMF chief economist has overwhelming backing from corporate India: an ET survey in May found that 90% of CEOs wanted Rajan to stay on as the Governor of Reserve Bank of India.

Murthy, who announced the appointment of Sikka as the first non-founder CEO of Infosys after cutting short his comeback to the software company in 2014, commended the former SAP executive and declined to discuss a shareholder vote earlier this year on Sikka’s reappointment.

“Overall, I think he has done a good job. I mean results are there,” said Murthy, who founded Infosys in 1981with Nandan Nilekani, S Gopalakrishan, SD Shibulal, KDinesh, NS Raghavan and Ashok Arora. “At the end of the day, anybody who does good for Infosys, is to be appreciated, that’s all.”

The Modi government, he said, has been performing with an “alignment of dynamism and enthusiasm between the ministers and the bureaucrats” not seen in 12 years. And while economic growth so far should be celebrated, he echoed Rajan in saying much more remains to be accomplished. “There is a lot more work we need to do … I don’t think we can be complacent,” he said.