Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan today hinted at increasing the key rate at the second quarter monetary policy review tomorrow, citing urgency to anchor inflationary expectations. He said in Mumbai Macroeconomic risks still exist with some upward pressure on inflation and the possibility of fiscal slippage, thus posing new challenges."Acknowledging that growth has dipped below potential,Rajan said a revival will require complementary monetary,fiscal and regulatory policies, apart from increasing fuel prices to contain demand, productivity enhancement and quick project implementation. Rajan, who took over as head of the central bank last month, warned that there is a risk of fiscal slippage due to the widening revenue deficit and high capital expenditure bythe government in the first half, which has exhausted over 74.6 per cent of the fiscal deficit target already.An RBI study of professional forecasters said the averageWPI inflation will climb up to 6 per cent from the earlier median expectation of 5.3 per cent, while on the growth front, they reduced the projection for the current fiscal to 4.8 per cent from 5.7 per cent earlier.
News On AIR | October 28, 2013 6:26 PM
Q-2 monetary policy: RBI hints at raising key rates