Govt loans from RBI down

The Central government had Rs402 crore outstanding loans with the RBI in the week ended Oct.11, according to a weekly statistical supplement of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The government had an outstanding loan of Rs46,529 crore in the week earlier.

State governments had loans worth Rs5,179 crore from the RBI in the week ended Oct.11, compared with Rs7,886 crore in the previous week, the release stated.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves have depleted to $407.88 billion as on Oct.11, as against $437.83 billion in the week ending Oct.4. The foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and the yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Meanwhile in what could mean further rate cuts by India’s central bank, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has said at the bi-monthly monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting in New Delhi earlier this month that “there is policy space to address growth concerns”, according to the minutes of the MPC meeting released on Friday.

In 2019, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has delivered 135 basis points (bps) of cuts in its key lending rate.

Das, according to the minutes, saw domestic demand moderating significantly.

“As the inflation scenario remains benign with headline inflation projected at below target in the remaining period of 2019-20 and in Q1:2020-21, there is policy space to address growth concerns,” Das said.

“The weakening of private consumption, which, for long, has been the bedrock of aggregate demand, in particular, is a matter of concern,” the Governor added.

Indo-Asian News Service