Sponsored Links
Interest rate policy needs to be rational and has to move in tandem with fiscal policy, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said in an interview to television channel NDTV profit. If the Rabi crop, which is due to be sown soon, turns out to be normal, the GDP growth may rise to around 7% this year, he said.
Asked whether he was in favor of a tighter monetary policy to check inflationary expectations, Mukherjee said that he would not make any premature comment without discussing the issue with the RBI governor.
On growth outlook, the minister said that the economy has started recovering and the overall impact of the initiatives taken by the government to boost growth would be seen by the end of November.
Recently, the central bank or the RBI reiterated that it will not exit the expansionary monetary policy until the economy is back on the high-growth track. However, pointing out that the CPI inflation is in double digit, RBI governor Subbarao had said that India may need to raise interest rates before other countries do so. RBI's quarterly review on monetary policy is due on October 27.
Separately, in an interview with CNBC-TV18, the finance minister reportedly said that the government would contain the adverse impact of inflationary pressure through proper supply and demand mechanism. As for as WPI ( Wholesale Price Index) is concerned, he sees the headline inflation rate to hover around 5-6% at the end of the current fiscal year.
He also said that if annual agricultural production is more than 2.5%, India's GDP will substantially step up to around 7% this year. "An early and good Rabi crop can compensate for the loss in the Kharif crop." he believes. Mukherjee said that there has been perfect understanding between the finance ministry and the central bank on matters related to monetary policy for sustaining the GDP growth.
Speaking on disinvestment in public sector units, the minister said that the government would adopt a cautious approach. The department of disinvestment is in touch with all the ministries and a paper would be brought out in the cabinet soon, he said.
On GST, he said that he will try to reach the 1- April target date for the implementation of the full fledged policy. Despite modest growth in direct taxes, the government would meet its budgetary target, he said.
If reports are to be believed, Mukherjee will meet heads of government-run banks next week to try keep interest rates at current levels and discuss issues related to the availability of cheap credit.
0 komentar:
Post a Comment