Credit Policy on 3 November

Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India Governor Dr Y V Reddy will present his maiden mid-term review of the Monetary and Credit Policy for 2003-04, on 3 November.

Bankers expect the new governor, who took charge on 6 September, to continue the soft interest rate bias by cutting the benchmark Bank Rate and repo rate by at least 0.25-0.50 percentage points.

Reddy, who was earlier India's executive director to the International Monetary Fund, on taking charge from Dr Bimal Jalan, had promised "continuity with change in proper mix."

The last cut in the Bank Rate had been by 0.25 percentage point to 6 per cent in the April 2003-04 Credit Policy. The repo rate cut was effcted last in February 2003 following the Union Budget by 50 basis points to 4.5 per cent.