RBI Chief Made Controversial Statement, just ahead of Budget

There are far too few people in the government who can even prepare a budget, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan said adding that well-trained economists were at a premium throughout the government sector.

"(There are) too few people who can prepare a budget, too few people who can do public debt management. We need far more capacity in government," Rajan said while speaking at an ongoing lecture series at Panaji.

The RBI governor's comment comes ahead of the budget session of Parliament, where union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is expected to present the first full budget of the National Democratic Alliance government (NDA).

As the economy develops, the country would need specialists with domain knowledge and experience in many areas of governance and regulation and there are few going around, Rajan said.

"For instance, well trained economists are at a premium throughout the government. There are far too few Indian Economic Service officers to go around and I know because I was for a little while, the head of the service and got constant requests," Rajan said.

Ranjan added that student debt should not go the way of the farmer debt crisis in India and the student loan facility needs holistic changes.

He also said that the NPA (non-performing assets) vis-a-vis student loans was on the higher side and added that the Aadhar card could be used to track down loanee students.

"How do we ensure that kids when they go to college, pay for an education which is worthwhile, rather than (they) are forced to pay enormous amounts for education which is not going to help them stand on their feet," Rajan said.