Industry leaders hail RBI moves to ease liquidity conditions

Industry leaders said on Friday the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken several measures to boost growth without cutting key interest rates in view of evolving growth-inflation dynamics.

"These would help improve the flow of funds in the system while enabling banks to manage the liquidity situation without facing many frictions given the government's own borrowing requirements," said FICCI President Sangita Reddy.

Lenders have now been given greater flexibility as the risk weight attached to housing loans will be determined by the loan to value ratio only.

"This should give a fillip to the housing finance sector and encourage growth in housing loans. FICCI believes this will have a large multiplier impact on the growth of several other sectors," said Reddy.

ASSOCHAM Secretary General Deepak Sood said the RBI's assessment about inflation moderating towards target level is correct as supply bottlenecks are being increasingly removed. Growth certainly needs a positive bias at this stage.

ICICI Securities Economist Anagha Deodhar said 'on tap TLTRO,' OMOs in state development loans, an extension of HTM limits till March 2022 and rationalisation of risk weights on housing loans are very important measures.

"They are likely to ease financial conditions further and provide support to key sectors of the economy. Going forward as supply chains are restored, inflation could ease to 4.5 to 5.4 per cent in H2 FY21," she said.

Kumaresh Ramakrishnan, Chief Investment Officer for fixed income at PGIM India Mutual Fund, said RBI continues to use the liquidity lever very actively to get market yields.

"Outside of rates, the policy is very dovish. It was also very comprehensive in a number of respects laying out measures to support liquidity, yields and credit growth," he said.

Sanjay Kumar, CEO and Managing Director at Elior India, said the RBI has probably now reached as far as it could in terms of accommodating the inflationary environment.

"We expect agriculture production to remain robust to feed the demand. What may now be required is a fiscal stimulus is to provide relief to the tax-paying class," he said.

Mihir Vora, Chief Investment Officer at Max Life Insurance, said the measures shows that the RBI may continue to see 'whatever-it-takes' measures to ensure lower risk-free rates, ample liquidity support, credit offtake and support for the large Centre and states borrowings in the second half of the financial year.

Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director of Knight Frank India, said the rationalisation of risk weights to all new housing loans until March 2022 will give a fillip to housing loan growth.

"The RBI has also extended the scheme for co-lending to all non-banking finance compes and housing finance compes which will ease credit availability for the real estate sector. Broadly these are positive and welcome steps by the RBI," he said.

Krish Raveshia, Chief Executive Officer of Azlo Realty, too echoed similar views.

( With inputs from ANI )