RBI may slightly reduce interest rate: Kaushik Basu

15 Jan 2019 Evaluate

In order to boost growth, Former chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu has said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) could slightly reduce interest rate. He underlined ‘Non-performing assets (NPAs) have made the banks cautious. However, India can do with slightly lower rate of interest’.  The RBI's monetary policy review is slated in February.

He further stated that the RBI should be left alone with complete autonomy. Moreover, he said that the investment rate in India was on the decline. Talking about the Goods and Services Tax (GST), he stated it was borrowed from advanced countries and ‘poorly implemented’, and demonetisation was a ‘bad idea’.

Besides, the RBI in its last monetary policy review, which held in December 2018,  had kept repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.50%, in line with expectations, taking into account easing global crude prices, benign inflation and moderation in economic growth. This was for the second time in a row that the central bank maintained status quo. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stood at 6.25%.

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