Adequate liquidity needed to support growth: Kochhar

There is a need to ensure adequate liquidity in the banking system as funding sources overseas have almost dried up, a top banking industry official said.        

"Global funding sources have almost dried up...now the entire responsibility to support growth lies largely with domestic sources," ICICI Bank's Joint Managing Director, Chanda Kochhar, told reporters on the sidelines of a FICC-IBA-organised banking seminar here today.        

Emphasising the need for adequate liquidity in the banking system, Kochhar said that liquidity was also needed to support economic growth of the country in the long-term.        

"It is important to provide more liquidity to support growth apart from levelling the gap (in funding) created by overseas sources drying up," she said.        

On interest rates, the ICICI Bank official said that interest rates should come down in the interest of the economy.        

ICICI Bank was "dynamically watching" its interest rates, she said, without revealing whether the bank would reduce its lending rates soon.