RBI

Data released friday shows that India’s economy could expand at a much lower page than expected and that the industrial output may have contracted by 0.4%, the first time in the last 15 years. This has been attributed to both a domestic and external demand for goods produced by Indian companies.The sharp fall is likely to increase pressure on the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to undertake another round of policy measures to boost domestic demand.

The weakness in rupee, which is inching closer to the 43-mark against the US dollar with a six per cent fall this fiscal, is not being resisted as strongly by RBI as during its appreciation, banking giant HSBC believes.

RBI is not stopping rupee weakness despite the continuing surge in wholesale and consumer price index-related inflation, HSBC's Chief Economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde wrote in a research note on Indian economy.

"Importantly, the impact from RBI intervention has shifted from preventing currency appreciation to reinforcing currency weakness," he said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today hiked the Credit Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 25 basis points to 8.25 per cent with effect from May 24 and left key interest rates unchanged in its annual the monetary and credit policy for the year 2008-09.

The hike in the CRR, the mandatory amount that banks have to keep with the RBI, followed a two-stage rise earlier in April to 8.0 percent and the second hike has yet to take effect on May 10.The RBI left its key lending rate unchanged at 7.75 percent and left the reverse repo rate, unchanged at 6.0 percent. The bank rate, which is used to price medium-term and long-term loans, remained at 6.0 percent.