Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy backs second term for RBI chief Raghuram Rajan

Though RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan is yet to make any serious comment on his candidature for a second term at the central bank, he continues to receive support from several quarters for the top job.

The latest to support Rajan is Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy. In an interview to The Economic Times, Murthy said India should be very fortunate to have central bank governor serve this country for not just one but two more terms.

Leading industry body CII has too supported second term for Rajan with its president Naushad Forbes denouncing personal attacks on Rajan by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.

Industrialist Adi Godrej has too backed Rajan's candidature for the top job.

The RBI governor's three-year term began on September 4, 2013..

The governor has also received support on Internet with a report saying that at least seven online petitions are suporting Rajan and have garnered more than 60,000 signatures so far.

A former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Rajan is currently on leave from the Chicago Booth School of Business, where he holds the post of Distinguished Service Professor of Finance.

If denied an extension, he will be the first RBI Governor since 1992 to not have a five-year term.

His predecessors D Subbarao (2008-2013), Y V Reddy (2003-2008), Bimal Jalan (1997-2003) and C Rangarajan (1992-1997) had five-year terms.

Rajan, who after taking over raised the short-term lending rate from 7.25 per cent to 8 per cent and retained the high rates throughout 2014, began the process of lowering the rates in January 2015. He has since then repo rate by 1.50 per cent to 6.50 per cent.