 "RBI, Raghuram Rajan")
The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday decided to slash the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) at 6.50%. A repo rate means the rate at which the RBI will lend to the banks in case of shortage of funds.
The central bank, meanwhile, expected the economy to grow at 7.6% in financial year 2016-17.
“Borrowing is now significantly cheaper and will continue to do so,” Raghuram Rajan, Governor, RBI said in the post-policy press conference.
Here’s a look at top quotes from the Governor’s press conference
On rate cut
We have cut rates by 150 basis points since the beginning of the accommodative cycle
Because of MCLR (Marginal Cost of Funds-based Lending Rate), we already had a 25-50 bps cut before the policy
On Indian economy
The rate cut is sensible given the current state of the economy
If the monsoon is not good enough, there are risks to achieving 7.6% GDP growth there.
Banks and liquidity
Finally, the process of cleaning up bank balance sheets is underway and I am happy with the progress
Now that we have given them more liquidity, banks can transmit more
On Kingfisher and Vijay Mallya
It is important this kind of investigation not be done through the press
We need to understand the conditions that were there under which the loans were given by the banks, given the information that was known then
It is important that we investigate possible criminal activity but based on judgments that had to be made at that time
On Panama
There are legitimate reasons to have a bank account outside. We are part of the agency to probe this
Excess Cash
Regarding cash in the hands of the public rising, we have seen that this happens during the time of elections. You can guess why
There is something there (the reason why excess cash rises). We need to understand it better. It is about Rs 50,000 crore more than what we anticipated this year
On disclosing names of defaulters
Many of you in this room may have defaulted on credit card bills. Do you want your names to be put out in public?
We do not have a problem with the names of willful defaulters being put out in public
Meanwhile, Deputy Governors HR Khan also elaborated on the Panama leaks and said that a multi-agency probe was underway. "A lot of things are permitted, a lot of things aren't; there is a grey area too. All of it will be known once the investigation is complete," he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Governors HR Khan also elaborated on the Panama leaks and said that a multi-agency probe was underway. "A lot of things are permitted, a lot of things aren't; there is a grey area too. All of it will be known once the investigation is complete," he said.
