RBI may cut rates by 25 bps on August 9
The Dollar Business Bureau The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to slash key interest rates by 25 basis points in its upcoming August 9 policy review meet, if pulses price inflation comes down on account of good weather, said Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) in a report. “With good rains, pulses’ sowing for the kharif season has jumped 39% above last year’s sowing. This should pull down pulses prices by 20% and cool CPI inflation to 5.1% by March,” the research note said. Pulses inflation is currently running at 27% on a poor summer rabi crop. The global brokerage firm said the RBI could cut policy reasons on three reasons. First, a good monsoon will reduce agiflation, second, the core-CPI inflation has softened ...
Rupee devaluation may not boost exports: RBI Governor
Sharath Chowdary Devaluation of the rupee may not boost exports from India. But in all likelihood, it will have an inflationary impact offsetting any benefit to the country’s economy. The current value of rupee is pretty reasonable, the Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said. This was in reply to a question posed by The Dollar Business Bureau, if there was any need to devaluate the rupee to increase exports from the country, given the current scenario of global economic slowdown. Detailing the side effects of rupee devaluation, he said, “Currency is a complicated animal. Inflation will pick up in the country due to devaluation. Cheaper prices may allow exporting more but it also makes imports costlier. We need to pay ...
Raghuram lauds Govt on infra creation
The Dollar Business Bureau The Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Raghuram Rajan said the country is poised for a ‘leap in production’ and the emphasis of Indian government on creation of infrastructure is bearing outcome. He said, "We are right for the change. With the focus of the government on creation of infrastructure and enhancing logistics network, several companies of private sector such as Snapdeal and Flipkart are bringing out a big change in warehousing and logistics.” The Governor made these remarks while speaking with Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore and TN Ninan, Chairman of Business Standard, at the Singapore Symposium 2016, organised by the CII. The Governor pointed out, “For first time in the history of India, the country ...
RBI ignores govt pressure, keeps interest rates unchanged
Source: PTI Rebuffing pressure from the government to reduce cost of borrowing, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan today kept interest rates unchanged, citing a spike in food prices and banks passing on to consumers only less than half of its previous rate cuts. Rajan, in his third bi-monthly policy of the fiscal, left benchmark lending (repo) rate unchanged at 7.25 per cent as also the cash reserve ratio (CRR) at 4 per cent. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has already reduced the policy rate by a total of 75 basis points, or 0.75 per cent, since January, when it embarked on an easing cycle. The banks, however, have passed on only 0.3 per cent to borrowers, Rajan said. "Given that policy ...
'Government to take final view on Financial Code after consultation'
Source: PTI The government will consult stakeholders including the Reserve Bank before firming its views on a draft bill that seeks to limit the central bank's authority in setting interest rates. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government will take a view on the revised draft of the Indian Financial Code -- which favours creation of an interest rate-setting panel where a majority (out of its 7 members) is nominated by government -- only after receiving comments from stakeholders. The Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian has already dubbed the IFC draft as merely a FSLRC report, not reflecting government views. "FSLRC has made its recommendations, which have been made public for comments. After the comments are received, it is only then that ...
