Finance minister P Chidambaram has not ruled out the possibility of further duty cuts to stem inflation as global oil prices surged beyond $ 56 a barrel.
"Where necessary, we will take measured steps both on monetary and fiscal side," he said on Tuesday when asked whether the government was contemplating more duty cuts.
As a part of the fiscal measures, he said the finance ministry has already slashed duties on petroleum products, steel and polymers. The Reserve Bank of India, on the other hand, has taken monetary measures in the form of hike in Cash Reserve Ratio by 0.50 per cent to 5.0 per cent in two tranches of 0.25 per cent each on September 18 and October 2.
Credit Policy 2004-05: Complete Coverage
Today's credit policy took another monetary measure in the form of hike in repo rate by 0.25 per cent to 4.75 per cent.
The fiscal and monetary measures were taken to douse inflation that peaked to 8.33 per cent in August before started falling for four consecutive weeks to touch 7.1 per cent in the week ended October 9.
