No, Raghuram Rajan Didn't Say That the Indian Economy Will Become Like Sri Lanka

In an email exchange with The Quint, Raghuram Rajan confirmed that the claim is not true.

Fact-check: A fake quote about Raghuram Rajan stating that India's economy will become like Sri Lanka's economy is going viral on the internet.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A quote purportedly made by former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan about the Indian economy becoming like Sri Lanka's economy is going viral on social media.

The quote in Hindi says, "लोगों को पैसे बचाकर रखना चाहिए हालात श्री लंका वाले बन रहे हैं"

(Translation: People should save money, the situation is becoming Sri Lanka.)

An archive can be seen here.

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: This statement about the Indian economy's state becoming like Sri Lanka is not made by Raghuram Rajan.

Rajan's view about the Indian and Sri Lankan economies: On conducting a keyword search on Google, we came across a video interview of Rajan with the news agency Asian News International (ANI).

• The video was shared on YouTube by ANI on 30 July 2022.

• At the 7:20 timestamp, the reporter asks Rajan about the possibility of India facing an economic situation like Pakistan or Sri Lanka, to which he replies, "I think India is at a different point. We have sufficient foreign exchange reserves of over 500 crores. They (Sri Lanka and Pakistan) don't have any reserves. The RBI has done a good job of increasing the reserves."

• He also adds that India's situation is different than Sri Lanka's or Pakistan's situation as India's problems are not as serious as theirs, and our country's foreign debts are also less.

• This was also reported by The Indian Express and Hindustan Times.

Did Rajan make this statement?: We reached out to Raghuram Rajan, who dismissed the claims about making any statement about India's economy becoming like Sri Lanka.

Conclusion: A fake quote attributed to Raghuram Rajan stating that India's economy will become like Sri Lanka's economy is going viral on the internet.

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