India will be able to sustain economic growth of as much as 8 per cent over the medium term, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said.
Das also indicated policymakers aren’t actively considering an interest rate cut in October, according to an interview with CNBC broadcast Sunday. India’s monetary policy will be governed primarily by domestic conditions and the RBI will make its decision irrespective of moves made by the US Federal Reserve.
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India has kept interest rates unchanged for more than 18 months already, with Das warning against any premature reduction while inflation remains a worry. Official figures last week showed that inflation remained below 4 per cent for a second month in August, although that was largely due to statistical reasons.
Asked in the CNBC interview whether the RBI will be actively considering a rate cut in October, Das said “no, I can’t say that.”
The RBI governor emphasised that India’s growth rate is expected to stay around 7.5 per cent over the next few years “with upside possibilities”. Growth dipped to 6.7 per cent last quarter from 7.8 per cent in the previous three months.
Das largely repeated his comments made at a forum in Singapore last week, where he said that India’s “other drivers of growth” remained strong, recording a 7 per cent-plus expansion.
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