After announcing a slew of reforms last week,the government indicated Monday that more policy measures were in the offing. The mid-quarter review by the RBI is encouraging and supportive. RBI is slated to take more decisions. Regular review is due on October 31. I am very confident that between now and October 30 government will take additional policy measures and also lay out a path for fiscal consolidation. The response of RBI on October 30 will be far more supportive of growth, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters while commenting on the Reserve Bank of Indias decision to cut the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 25 basis points. Given the weak economic growth,which slowed to a nine-year low of 6.5 per cent in 2011-12,Chidambaram had,immediately after assuming charge of the finance portfolio,announced that the government would take all possible steps to boost investments. The economy grew by 5.5 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal,as against 8 per cent recorded during the same period last fiscal. Last week,the government raised diesel prices,capped the number of subsidised LPG cylinders,allowed 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail,and allowed foreign carriers to pick up 49 per cent stake in Indian aviation companies. Also,norms for FDI in single brand retail were tweaked.
