Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D Subbarao said that the central bank will watch the steps being taken by the government to curtail fiscal deficit before taking a decision on rate cut. “The (fiscal deficit) number as a proportion of GDP has to come down, that is very important as you recognise but within that we will look for the quality of fiscal adjustment that is being made,” he told analysts. Subbarao said “First, we have depended, I believe, quite heavily on the tax side and neglected the expenditure compression element of this over the years”. He said efforts to reduce fiscal deficit should be as much on the tax increase as on expenditure compression.
DH
