RBI cautions against hasty overhaul of financial regulation

The governor of the Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) said on Tuesday the finance ministry and the central bank agreed on the need for a separate public debt management office, but cautioned against moving in haste to overhaul financial regulation.

In April, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley put on hold a major overhaul of financial regulation that would have stripped the central bank of authority to regulate the government bond market and manage public debt. "There is a broader agenda of moving a whole lot of other things away from the RBI, and I think we are agreed that would not be wise without much deeper dialogue," Governor Raghuram Rajan said in a post-policy press conference.

"What is functioning well doesn't need to be disrupted for some hypothetical gain."

"So let us make sure we have a well laid out path, based on tangible progress and tangible value before we intervene based on some theory."

India's central bank cut interest rates for a third time this year on Tuesday, taking advantage of subdued inflation to give more support to an economy that many economists doubt is doing as well as latest growth numbers suggest.