India's central bank cuts deposit rates to ease coronavirus impact

$13bn rupees injected to help shadow banks, agriculture and small businesses

20200417 RBI India RTS1X5ZL.JPG

The Reserve Bank of India announces one trillion-rupee infusion into the country's financial system as the coronavirus pandemic continues to shake the nation of 1.3 billion people. © Reuters

KIRAN SHARMA, Nikkei staff writer

NEW DELHI -- The Reserve Bank of India on Friday provided fresh liquidity to the economy by cutting reverse repo rates by 25 basis points, to 3.75%, and announcing an infusion of one trillion rupees ($13 billion) to help shadow banks and micro finance companies, as well as to boost credit to farmers, small businesses and the housing sector amid the coronavirus crisis.

"The mission is to do whatever it takes to prevent the epidemiological curve from steepening any further," RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in a televised statement. "It is during our darkest moments that we must focus on light."

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