Nirmala Sitharaman has a message for the Monetary Policy Commission which began deliberations on Wednesday. The Reserve Bank had last reduced the repo rate by 40 basis points to 4 per cent in May 2020 to help the economy tide over the crisis following the outbreak of the Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdown.
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«The Reserve Bank will take its own call. I can’t tell. But certainly, they have started realising that more liquidity should be made available and they have taken steps in the recent past. We have got to recognise that as well,» said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in an exclusive interview with The Economic Times.
India's central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates in Governor Sanjay Malhotra's first monetary policy review on Friday, aiming to boost economic growth which is seen falling to a four-year low. A longtime bureaucrat who was previously the revenue secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Malhotra hasn’t given any public speeches since his appointment, making it difficult to gauge his views on inflation and the currency. However, Bloomberg quoting RBI insiders said that he favors a more hands-off approach on the rupee than his predecessor, and has shown a willingness to allow the currency to weaken along with global peers.
Malhotra has added reason to cut interest rates after recent data showed the economy slowed more than expected and US President Donald Trump sends shockwaves through global markets with new tariff