Favourable situation for a rate cut: Ashok Lavasa

Interview with Finance Secretary

Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa, in an interview with Arup Roychoudhury, said given that inflation was well below the limits set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government, there was a case for a rate cut. On job creation, Lavasa said while the government had taken a lot of steps to create employment, the private sector was lagging for several reasons. He added a call needed to be taken on whether the government should continue operating Air India. Edited excerpts:

Is there a case for a rate cut by the RBI, with the current macro economic data?