Chambers term RBI's monetary

Kolkata, Apr 29 (UNI) Welcoming the RBI annual monetary and credit policy for 2008-09, Chambers of Commerce in West Bengal today described it as 'balanced' and capable of arresting inflation.

In a statement, Indian Chamber of Commerce said the fact that RBI had left all key short-term lending and borrowing rates and bank rate unchanged would stop unnecessary downward pressure on economy while its measures would help protect the domestic oil companies.

The measures announced in the credit policy would also help to maintain the GDP growth for 2008-09 in the range of 08-08.5 per cent and could contribute in bringing down inflation to around 5.5 per cent, it observed.

The chamber, however, apprehended that the hike in cash reserve ratio(CRR) could hamper growth of important sectors like automobile and infrastructre.

Observing that RBI Governor Y V Reddy deserved accolades, Bharat Chamber of Commerce said the policy put adequate thrust on ensuring a monetary and interest rate environment and accorded high priority on price stability and orderely conditions in fin ancial markets.

According to Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the slew of measures would increase the strength and efficiency of the Indian banking and financial sectors.

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