The Reserve Bank on Tuesday lowered the economic growth forecast to seven per cent, saying the global economic crisis has hit Indian shores, but kept key policy rates and ratio unchanged. The bank also lowered inflation estimates to three per cent by March end.
The Reserve Bank on Tuesday lowered the economic growth forecast to seven per cent, saying the global economic crisis has hit Indian shores, but kept key policy rates and ratio unchanged. The bank also lowered inflation estimates to three per cent by March end.
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In its quarterly review of the annual monetary policy, the apex bank extended special refinance facilities to banks up to September 30 for providing liquidity support to meet the funding requirements of mutual funds, non-banking finance companies and housing finance companies by relaxing the maintenance of SLR up to 1.5 per cent.
Likewise, special refinance facility for scheduled commercial banks up to one per cent to each banks liabilities, has been extended to September 30. Both these facilities were earlier available up to June 30, 2009.
These measures have been taken to provide banks continued flexibility in their liquidity management operations in the current market conditions.
Given the uncertain outlook on the global crisis, the RBI said it was difficult to precisely anticipate every development.
"The Reserve Bank will continue to maintain vigil, monitor domestic and global developments and take swift and effective action to minimise the impact of the crisis," the apex bank said in a statement.
The central bank will also attempt to restore the economy to its potential growth path with price stability, it said. The response to the Reserve Bank's policy actions over the last several months is still unfolding.
As demonstrated in the recent past, the Reserve Bank will act swiftly and decisively as and when evolving external and domestic conditions so warrant, the RBI said.
The bank has injected over Rs 3,00,000 crore liquidity into the financial system through several changes in policy rates since October 2008.
Justifying its policy stance of not changing key rates, RBI said that the monetary policy easing done by it in the last few months allowed considerable room for banks to respond more actively to the policy cues.
In the last three months, the repo rate, at which the apex bank lends short term funds to banks, has been reduced from nine per cent to 5.5 per cent and the reverse repo, at which the RBI accepts funds from banks, has been lowered from six per cent to four per cent.
Asserting that RBI has acted aggressively and pre-emptively in the last few months to bring about interest rate cuts, it said the signal has been effective in the money and government security market.
However, the transmission in the credit market has so far been subdued, it said, adding that most banks have reduced lending and deposit rates to some extent, but a few are yet to do so.
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