Arun Jaitley expects inflation to remain under control, low rates

Expecting inflation to remain under control, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said he is hopeful that the downward move in interest rates will stay.

Expecting inflation to remain under control, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said he is hopeful that the downward move in interest rates will stay.

Arun Jaitley made the remarks following the trend of the RBI this year, which has so far cumulatively lowered its policy rate. (PTI Photo)

Speaking at a housing market event, he said the Reserve Bank has lowered the rates on four occasions this year, which was a positive step for the real estate sector that was earlier adversely impacted by the hardening of rates.

The RBI has cumulatively lowered its policy rate by 1.25% so far in 2015, including by 25 basis points thrice and a better-than-expected 50 basis points in the last monetary policy review.

“Interest rate hardening had impacted this (real estate) sector adversely and it was a prerequisite that we kept inflation under control for a sustained period of time,” Jaitley said.

“Fortunately, that has happened. Therefore, we can also look back with a sense of satisfaction that over the last one year, the RBI has also at least on four occasions taken positive steps as far as the rates are concerned,” he added.

“Hopefully, this movement is there to stay and in the current global price structure, we are able to keep inflation under control,” he said.