Rate cuts to spur growth, ease liquidity situation: India Inc

NEW DELHI: Reeling under slowdown, India Inc today hailed Reserve Bank's move to reduce repo rate and CRR by a quarter per cent, saying it will spur growth and ease the prevailing tight liquidity condition.

"It is a positive step which will infuse liquidity and help in catalysing growth," Industry Minister Anand Sharma said in Agra.

Industry houses are emphatic with the RBI pruning repo rate and CRR by 0.25 per cent each after a long nine months in its third quarter monetary policy review.

"It was much needed given that GDP growth is moderating and industrial production is decelerating month after month. The rate cut is an encouraging move when high interest rates were having negative impact on the country's economic growth," JSW Steel Joint Managing Director and CFO Seshagiri Rao said.

Ficci's banker President Naina Lal Kidwai said,"This will hopefully help in reversing the anaemic industrial growth observed over the last year."

"In fact high borrowings under the LAF window seen in the recent past clearly reflected the tight liquidity situation. Release of Rs 18,000 crore with CRR cut of 25 basis points will help in easing the funds flow situation," she said.

Assocham President R N Dhoot said: "The reduction is a step in the right direction. However, the system has to take this in the true spirit and the benefits have to be passed on to the end users."

Apparel Export Promotion Council's Chairman A Sakthivel said, "The tight liquidity condition which was prevailing since long will surely ease out. It will, in turn, boost our economy and robust the structural deficit in the system by infusing the permanent primary liquidity in the system."