ICICI chief Kamath noncommittal on rate cut

ICICI Bank, the country's largest private sector lender, today kept its cards close to the chest on the possibility of an interest rate cut, saying it was still assessing the demand-supply position for credit.

"Let's wait and see what happens. This is the last quarter of the year where rates normally tend to increase. It would be unwise to say how rates will move in the next six weeks. We have also to see the demand-supply gap," K V Kamath, chairman, ICICI Bank, told reporters.

When asked about the slow-down in the bank's credit offtake during the fiscal, Kamath said it was due to a slow-down in automobile and mortgage portfolios.

"There was a slow-down in segments like automobile. There was an impact in the mortgage business also, due to high cost of property prices," Kamath said, adding,"there was no serious impact across the board." On the issue of the bank's holding company, Kamath said it will wait for the new draft policy from the Reserve Bank before taking any decision in this regard.

Noting that the domestic economy is expected to continue the current growth momentum, Kamath said that he expects the economy to grow in double-digits in the next 10-25 years.

"A growth at 10% is already happening. I believe that the country is able to sustain this (growth) and may even move to a double digit growth in the next 10-25 years,"Kamath said.