Ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary and credit policy review early next week, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday reviewed the state of the economy with the financial sector regulators to get their perspective on the issues that need to be addressed while formulating the budget for 2011-12.
Customary meeting
Apart from RBI Governor D. Subbarao's customary meeting with the Finance Minister prior to the apex bank's policy review, the high-level meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council was attended by Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman C. B. Bhave, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Chairman J. Hari Narayan and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Chairman Yogesh Agarwal.
“The RBI policy is scheduled on January 25. As a standard practice I have come to review the macroeconomic situation with the Finance Minister,” Dr. Subbarao told reporters after the meeting.
In its quarterly review of monetary policy, the RBI is expected to hike the key rates yet again by at least 25 basis points to contain the inflationary pressures afflicting the economy.
As part of pre-budget consultations with the financial regulators, Mr. Mukherjee also sought inputs from them for improving and strengthening the financial sector to put the economy on a higher growth path.
