A Rs 1.45 trillion tax cut may undermine rate reductions in India

While the central bank has cut rates four times this year, banks have been reluctant to fully pass on Asia's most aggressive easing amid a surge in bad loans

India’s $20 billion tax-cut boost may have an unintended effect of keeping borrowing costs high.

The premium of 10-year yields over the central bank’s policy rate widened to the most since April after the surprise stimulus announced Friday raised fears the government will miss its budget deficit targets. Traders say the spread offers lenders little incentive to pass on past interest rate cuts to customers.

“Why would a bank take credit risk when they can simply borrow from the Reserve Bank of India and invest in a government bond and just sit on it,” said Vijay Sharma, executive vice president