• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

MR P. CHIDAMBARAM

Advertisement

New Delhi Feb. 1 The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, has said that the Reserve Bank of India's move to hike repo rate as well as its other measures in the Credit Policy review would not affect the Indian growth story.

"The main purpose behind the repo rate hike is to send signal to the banking sector that they must moderate credit growth. In my view, it should not affect the (Indian) growth story," he told reporters at the North Block .

Asked whether this was a pointer to hardening of interest rates in the economy, Mr Chidambaram maintained that interest was only a small part of the cost of industry and services. "I am confident that businesses would continue to go forward and invest as per their plans," he said.

Broad endorsement

The Finance Minister also said that RBI had addressed the issues of liquidity and credit growth adequately and that the Government "broadly endorses" these measures.

He said RBI's monetary measures would have a favourable impact on containing inflation. "Monetary steps take some time to work through the system," he said.

Asked whether he endorsed RBI's move to stipulate higher provisioning in four sectors, Mr Chidambaram said "broadly yes. RBI is better judge in these sectors". He also pointed out that residential housing had been left untouched and that this would comfort homeowners and homebuyers.

More Stories on : Credit Policy | Economy

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Andhra Bank opens 5 ATMs

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line