MUMBAI : Governor Shaktikanta Das vowed on Friday to do “whatever it takes" to cushion the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic, before drawing from the central bank’s arsenal to cut the reverse repo rate to nudge banks to lend, provide liquidity support to struggling non-banks and ease asset classification norms.
The measures, announced outside the monetary policy cycle, set the stage for the second round of fiscal stimulus that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to announce any day now.
Governor Das’s pledge to do all that it takes to save the economy indicates that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will take aggressive steps, including further rate cuts, to support economic activity in a nation that has been locked down