Markets Will Punish India for Fiscal Excesses, Says Former Bank Governor

Opinion is unanimous that India should spend its way out of the current crisis, but it’s the question of ‘how’ that divides the room. Former central bank governor Duvvuri Subbarao is the latest to weigh in with an argument against fiscal excesses.

Subbarao says acting on calls for the Reserve Bank of India to directly fund the government’s borrowing will dent the central bank’s credibility and boost the case for a rating downgrade. Instead, he suggests India should commit a pre-determined amount of additional borrowing and plan to reverse the action once the crisis blows over.