Bankers pitch for cut in CRR in first quarter monetary policy

12 Jul 2013 Evaluate

In run-up to the first quarter monetary policy announcement on July 30, bankers in a customary pre-policy meeting with the senior officials of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have requested the central bank to cut CRR, as a repo rate cut don’t seems possible given the shape of the rupee. The rupee has declined by about 9 per cent in the past three months and had touched a record low of 61.21 to the dollar on July 8. Though, the currency recovered after the RBI and Sebi announced measures to curb volatility and speculation in the currency derivative market.

Attributing the decline in rupee to global factors, Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao has said it would be difficult to estimate when the situation will improve. However, the bankers have demanded that if the CRR cannot be reduced, they should be paid interest on their deposits with the RBI, as that can enable them to bring down their lending rate. Banks are presently required to keep 4% of their deposits with the central bank as CRR. The bankers also demanded the RBI to reduce the tenure of FCNR /NRE deposits in the light of depleting forex reserves and the flight of capital due to FII selling in the debt and equities.

Bankers strongly pitched for a reduction in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) as they feel a cut in the short-term lending rate looks unlikely given the rupee volatility and the rate cut will put their margins under pressure. Recently, RBI Governor D Subbarao endorsing Finance Minister P Chidambaram's call to banks to pass on the benefit of rate cuts to customers has said that lending rates have be to reduced to attract investments.

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