RBI may cut rates after interim budget: PM adviser

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may cut interest rates after February's interim budget is approved and it has a better sense of the country's fiscal situation, a top policy adviser said on Wednesday. "Possibly they will wait for the vote-on-account or interim budget to gauge the fiscal situation," Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Suresh Tendulkar told Reuters in a telephone interview. "In the light of that, they may decide to cut rates." He said the cost of credit needs to fall to boost confidence. "They (rates) should be cut to reduce the cost of credit and that should help confidence. In my view cutting rates is desirable." Tendulkar, a noted economist, heads the council, which only has advisory powers and is not involved in policy making.