Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, on Monday, expressed his disappointment over the failure of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to reduce the interest rates and indicated that he would write to the Finance Minister and the RBI Governor to re-visit the credit policy. “The RBI’s decision, whatever reason they have based it on, is disappointing, and will not help in reversing the trend when it comes to the core sector manufacturing. I shall definitely be writing both to the Finance Minister and the RBI Governor on the issue and seek a review of the present status quo,” he told reporters here.
Mr. Sharma said industrial production had been badly impacted during the last eight months. Consequently, a status quo on the rate front would not help the situation, he felt. Industry, it may be noted, has been blaming high interest rate regime for slowdown in economic activities.
Mr. Sharma said “inflation is mainly due to food articles and, therefore, there is a case for a re-look at the interest rates.”
