After surprising everyone with four successive rate cuts this year, Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said that "there is more room" to do so given the growth deceleration and stable inflation that is likely to stay below target for a year or so.

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However, the governor was quick to add that there is little fiscal space for the government to unveil any counter-cyclical measures to boost the sagging growth and the only way to revive the growth engine is to front-load the budgeted capex, hinting that only an easy monetary policy can help salvage the situation.

Since assuming charge in mid-December, the Das-led rate-setting panel has delivered four successive rates cuts, with the fourth one last month being the most surprising and unconventional one as he chose to deliver a 35 bps repo cut. With that the RBI has delivered a cumulative 110 bps repo reduction since February, yanking down the key benchmark rate to a nine-year low of 5.40 percent.

"When we see that the price stability is maintained and inflation is much below the 4-percent mandate and is expected to be so in the next 12 months horizon, there's a room for more rate cuts especially when growth has slowed down," Das told Bloomberg India economic summit this evening.

First Published:Sept 19, 2019 9:21 PM IST