Why RBI and SBI economists are fighting
What's the story
A war of words has erupted between economists from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and State Bank of India (SBI), India's biggest lender. The spat began when Sarthak Gulati, an RBI economist, accused his SBI counterparts of plagiarism. He alleged that recent SBI Ecowrap reports have copied large portions from RBI's Monetary Policy Reports (MPRs) without any attribution.
Plagiarism charges
Allegations of 'cut-paste' work
Gulati, who is an Assistant General Manager at RBI, claimed that one of the SBI 'Ecowrap' reports has copied large parts of the RBI April report. He said it was done "paragraph-by-paragraph, including key charts and narratives." The October Ecowrap issue also "mirrors language and structure" from the October RBI monetary policy report, he alleged. Gulati's LinkedIn post was made during Diwali celebrations.
Report leadership
Who prepares SBI's Ecowrap reports?
The SBI 'Ecowrap' reports are published by a team of researchers headed by the bank's chief economic advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh. Ghosh is also a member of the 16th Finance Commission, and the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council. Despite the plagiarism allegations, these reports are circulated and quoted in media outlets across India.
Defense strategy
SBI dismisses allegations as 'sad and laced with sensationalism'
In response to the plagiarism allegations, SBI has dismissed them as "sad and laced with sensationalism." Tapas Parida, a member of Ghosh's team, defended their work on LinkedIn. He said that their "equation and methodology are clearly distinct from the one deployed at the central bank's end and hence stand out as a beacon of ingenuity of original research."
Methodology clarification
Differences in research approach
Parida clarified that while the RBI's April research is more exhaustive and uses a longer time period, SBI's research was focused on more recent data to understand the current inflation trend. He also pointed out that one of the Ecowrap tables relating to inflation mentions "RBI, NSO, and SBI Research" as sources.