Looking to pin blame for a growth slowdown? Try RBI

Investment by the private sector hasn't picked up and that should be in focus rather than rate policy

- RAJRISHI SINGHAL

Chapter 16 in the Book of Leviticus, Old Testament, enjoins Aaron (brother of Moses) to organize sacrifices and expiate the sins of all Israelites. The process involves, over and above the ritual sacrifice of a bull and a ram, the community of Israelites providing Aaron with a goat; Aaron is supposed to lay both his hands over the goat's head and confess to all the sins of Israelites; this goat, with all the Israelite sins now laid on its head, is then sent out into the desert to forever bear the community's guilt and suffer desolation in a barren landscape. Thence was born the concept of a scapegoat.

Almost 2,500 years later, in present-day India, the political and industrial classes seem to have put their hands on the head of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and cursed it to forever bear the cross of all economic ills, regardless of where they originate. All eyes are on newly appointed RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra to see how he adjusts to life at the head of an organization that has become the favourite punching bag for politicians.

Various ministers, government officials and sundry industry representatives have been hinting at RBI culpability in India's economic slowdown and have called upon its monetary policy committee to cut rates in support of growth.