With the aim to support the economy in the times of financial crisis, a set of recommendations, including further cut in key interest rates were planned on Sunday by the leading industry body, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). 

A statement issued by the chamber said, "It is necessary to further reduce repo rate by at least 50 basis points and in CRR (cash reserve ratio) by 150 bps to ensure adequate liquidity and reasonable cost of funding."

New Delhi - The central Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Monday lowered its key short-term lending rate (repo) to commercial banks, a move that will spur consumption and help growth amid the global economic slowdown.

"In order to alleviate the pressure and in particular to maintain financial stability, the RBI has decided to reduce the repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility by 100 basis points to 8 per cent with immediate effect," the bank said in a statement.

The whole sale price index (WPI) based inflation rate declined to 11.44% for the week ended October 4. It was stood at 11.8% for the previous week. This is good news for the government as it is taking various steps through the reserve bank to tame the inflation rate.

Economists believe that inflation could further decline in the coming months.

New Delhi, Oct 16 : Inflation fell to 11.44 per cent for the week ending October 4 due to decline in oil prices and manufactured goods.

In the previous week the inflation was 11.80 per cent.

The index for fuel prices declined by 1.1 per cent on account of lower prices of naphtha, aviation turbine fuel and furnace oil.

In manufactured goods category, wholesale prices, declined by 0.5 per cent on account of cheaper imported edible oil, steel, pig iron and lead ingots.

Mumbai, Oct. 15 : Finance Secretary Arun Ramanathan on Wednesday chaired a meeting of a panel of bankers and experts to explore options to ease liquidity pressure in the system.

The panel, which was appointed by the Central Government last week to make quick assessment of the liquidity requirement, is expected to submit an interim report within a week.

The high-powered group comprises IBA Chairman T S Narayanaswamy, UTI CMD U K Sinha, SIDBI CMD R M Malla, L&T CFO Y M Deosthalee and a representative of RBI. Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) chairman A P Kurien also attended the meeting.

Sources said the panel would list the options available with the government and the central bank to ease the liquidity crunch.

New Delhi - Indian equities gained 6 per cent and were trading strong Monday as Finance Minister P Chidambaram insisted fundamentals of the Indian economy were strong.

"This is a time of uncertainty. Yet in a time of uncertainty, some facts cannot and ought not to be ignored," Chidambaram told a press conference, where he noted the Indian economy continued to grow at a satisfactory pace.