India central bank faces rising pressure to cut rates

India’s central bank faces growing pressure to cut interest rates later on Tuesday for the first time since April after the finance minister pledged to rein in the country’s fiscal deficit.

Remarks by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram at a hastily called news conference on Monday that he would nearly halve the deficit in just over four years had increased the chances for a Tuesday rate cut, some analysts said.

“Net-net, the odds for a rate cut have increased because of today’s press conference,” said A. Prasanna, an economist at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership in Mumbai.

via Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1073139/india-central-bank-faces-rising-pressure-cut-rates