New Delhi, April 13 -- Just before a budget was to be presented by the Narendra Modi government some years ago, I was contacted by finance ministry officials who wanted the fiscal-deficit estimate reported accurately. I didn't see the urgency, but understood the anxiety-the then chief economic advisor's public statements on the deficit had worried the ministry and Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

On budget day, I was in the Lok Sabha press gallery. The finance minister read out the deficit numbers in the speech. To my relief, the officials hadn't misled me. One of them walked up to me as I was leaving and said: "The RBI governor has just messaged thefinance secretary: The bond markets are saluting you."

In India, the government exercises fa...