THE Reserve Bank of India recently gave a small but revealing lesson in economic policymaking. On August 5, Governor Sanjay Malhotra was asked whether the special FCNR(B) scheme, designed to attract foreign currency deposits from non-resident Indians, might be closed before its scheduled September 30 deadline. He said there was no proposal to do so. Nine days later, the RBI abruptly advanced the closing date to August 31.