Bankers want RBI to cut policy rates to spur growth

16 Jan 2013 Evaluate

Urging for a rate cut from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its next monetary policy review scheduled on January 29, leading bankers met RBI top brass, impressing upon them to shift focus of next monetary policy towards growth by reducing the repo rate and the cash reserve ratio by 0.5 percent. Currently, CRR stands at 4.25 percent and repo rate at 8 percent.

In its customary pre-policy meeting with RBI officials, bankers said ‘growth is the bigger concern than inflation and at this point of time it was our recommendation that there should be a rate cut so that growth comes first. By adding further they said, banks would reduce interest rates, if RBI cuts policy rates in the coming policy.

According to bankers, the reductions in rates will send positive signal in the market by increasing the investment, which would boost credit growth. Bankers also raised concerns regarding sluggish deposit growth along with low credit uptake, which is hovering around 8 per cent now. Further, bankers are also concerned about rising bad assets in the system, which is also deteriorating the credit profile of banks.

Expectations for a rate cut picked up pace this week after the release of December headline inflation data. Slowing down to a three year low level, the wholesale price index (WPI), India's main inflation gauge, unexpectedly cooled down to 7.18% (Provisional) for the month of December, 2012 as compared to 7.24% for November and 7.74% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Further, the rate cut hopes also gathered steam after RBI, in a clear signal said that the focus of the monetary policy will now shift to growth, in the ‘Mid-Quarter Monetary Policy Review: December 2012.’

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