I spoke on demonetisation as Parliament has a right to know what happened: Rajan

India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley (L) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan attend a convocation ceremony for students at a university in Mumbai January 9, 2015. A weak recovery from India's longest growth slowdown in decades is pushing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's advisers to consider loosening fiscal deficit targets, risking the ire of investors, ratings agencies and the central bank. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade (INDIA - Tags: BUSINESS EDUCATION) - RTR4KQ6D

Raghuram Rajan, former governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), said he opened up on the topic of demonetisation as some of the responses given to the Parliamentary Committee by RBI about demonetisation were not in accordance with his actual response.

Speaking at the launch of his book, 'I do what I do', Rajan said it was not a tell-all book and did not quote private conversations except on demonetisation in the introduction. He said he had wanted to set the record straight on demonetisation as Parliament had a right to know what actually happened.

“Responses given to Parliamentary Committee weren't in accordance with my actual response (on demonetisation)… Parliament has a right to know what actually happened,” he said.

Rajan who has also worked with the government as the chief economic adviser to India's Ministry of Finance prior to heading the central bank, said RBI governors cannot always say “yes” to the government.

A week before the book launch, Rajan revealed that he had warned the government against demonetisation. "Although there may be long-term benefits, I felt the likely short-term economic costs would outweigh them, and felt there were potentially better alternatives to achieve the main goals," he writes in his book. "I made these views known in no uncertain terms.”

However, Rajan said he had faced no interference from both the UPA and NDA government in carrying out the agenda of financial sector reforms and had the governments' support all along. He said he had a cordial relationship with both the governments.

There was a lot of talk in public about RBI-government tensions but focus on tensions missed the co-operation between them, he said.