By NNN-PTI,
On Board PM’s Special Aircraft : Confident that inflation will come down further, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave firm indications that monetary and fiscal policies would be used aggressively in relation to interest rates.
About the prices of petroleum products, the Prime Minister gave no firm commitment that they would be reduced in the light of the fall of international crude prices from a peak of USD 147 to about USD 56, but said “all options” were open on the question of reducing fuel prices.
“As far as the interest rates are concerned that is the prerogative of the RBI. It will not not be proper for me to comment. But as I said it is an evolving situation.
“If the inflation rate comes down and we feel confident that inflation will not not be a problem, there is scope for manoeuvrability both in more aggressive use of monetary policy and more aggressive use of fiscal policy,” he told journalists accompanying him in his special plane on the way back from Washington on Sunday where he attended a summit of G-20 leaders on the current global financial crisis.
The Prime Minister was replying to a question on the possibility of reducing interest rates in the context of easing liquidity situation to tackle the economic crisis.
Singh said as far as India was concerned a stimulus package was already on and steps have been taken for ensuring increased liquidity. “If more is needed we will do more,” he added.