Rate hikes have failed to arrest rupee fall: SBI chief Pratip Chaudhuri

The RBI has hiked rates indirectly, and that has not helped in stemming rupee fall, State Bank of India ( SBI) chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said on Tuesday.

"I think the real solution lies in trying to enhance our export capability. To an extent, the banks can do it ... the RBI can do it ... by increasing export credit refinance. This is because in the longer term we are having a huge current account deficit emanating largely from the trade deficit, because we export very little and import substantially

The SBI chief reiterated that RBI's recent measures to check the fall in the rupee lack transparency. "They should be transparent," he said.

Among other things, Chaudhuri questioned the manner in which the benchmark repo rate has been left unchanged and said the steps have choked liquidity for banks.

Talking about a possible hike in policy rates, the SBI chief said: "There is not much room for a rate hike as it has already happened indirectly. As far as CRR is concerned, if a hike happens it will make the liquidity situation still tighter," the SBI chief said.

"The RBI had said that the measures (liquidity tightening) are temporary, and at no point in time it mentioned that the measures will get harsher," he said.