Hope RBI keeps calibrated approach to curb inflation: Kochhar

The country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank today said that it expects the Reserve Bank to continue with calibrated approach to check inflation at its upcoming September 16 monetary policy review.

"The Central Bank has taken a balanced and calibrated approach. We expect the same approach going forward in the long-run to continue to check inflation," ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar said at a Ficci-IBA conference here.

Inflation continues to be high and widespread due to which the RBI may continue with its stance, she said.

Kochhar added that the days of excess liquidity are over, but it is not yet a matter of concern.
    
RBI has been tightening key benchmark (its lending and borrowing) rates since November last year, after the country started recovering from the impact of the global economic slowdown.
    
Over the past few months, inflation has been a major area of concern and RBI has been tightening its policy rates to tame it by trying to check consumer spending.
    
However, there have been some concerns that too much tightening of rates might hamper economic growth.
    
In its last policy announcement on July 27, the apex bank raised the repo rate (lending) by 0.25 per cent to 5.75 per cent and the reverse repo rate (borrowing) by 0.50 per cent to 4.50 per cent.
    
In the policy, it had also announced that mid-quarter statements will be given out, the first of which will be done on September 16.

On credit demand, the ICICI Bank Chief said that it will pick up in the second half of the current fiscal.
    
"Corporate sanctions have increased and work on projects started, therefore disbursements will also pick up," she added.
    
Standard Chartered's Chief Executive Officer for India and South Asia, Neeraj Swaroop, who was also present at the conference, said that although the liquidity situation is all right now, there is however an upward bias on interest rates.