By IANS,
New Delhi : Slamming the government for “mismanagement” of the economy, the Bharatiya Janata Party said Monday the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to keep lending rates unchanged showed the gap between government and the central bank.
“Only a few days ago, the finance minister (Pranab Mukherjee) said he was confident that RBI would adjust the monetary policy, as they were adjusting the fiscal policy,” said BJP spokesman Nirmala Sitharaman.
“Planning Commission’s Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and government’s Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu also had earlier called for ‘pro-growth and out of the box measures’,” she said.
“Apparently they were blissfully unaware of the RBI’s position. This doesn’t augur well for the country,” she said, adding it showed “the disconnect between government and RBI”.
Stressing that the RBI has taken a “professional call”, Sitharaman blamed the government for the poor situation of economy.
“If you look at the reasons given by the RBI, you will see how the economy has been totally messed up,” she said.
The RBI Monday kept key lending rates unchanged but said it is ready to provide relief in a turbulent global economic situation.
The move assumes significances as the RBI was expected to cut these key rates that would have translated in lowering of interest being paid by consumers on their loans for consumer durables, homes or automobiles.