December 29, 2013
Coimbatore: The Reserve Bank of India neither regulates nor supports bitcoins, said K. C. Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, RBI.
December 29, 2013
Coimbatore: The Reserve Bank of India neither regulates nor supports bitcoins, said K. C. Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, RBI.
Speaking to press persons here on Saturday, Chakrabarty said “'those who understand and want to take the risk are free to do so with their money. Whether it is legal or illegal, we do not know; so, people should be cautious, should understand before taking the plunge.”
Asked if there was any move to regulate bitcoins, he said, “first of all, we don’t understand this subject. So, until we do, have some clarity on it and why and how people do it, how can we regulate?” he countered, adding “it is not just the Reserve Bank, across the globe all central banks have been issuing advisories. Those who haven’t will (soon) be issuing.”
When asked on the mounting NPAs of banks, Chakrabarty said: “The only long-term solution to loans that have turned bad is to write them off. Banks can do this in a number of ways. All debt problems can be solved only by writing off.”
On restructuring of MSME loans, he said “the guidelines are there. But banks seem to be considering bigger corporates for restructure. We are asking banks to consider both – big and small enterprises equally.”
Asked to share his thoughts on how effective monetary policy has been in taming inflation, the RBI Deputy Governor said: “We are trying whatever is possible within the limited framework to bring down inflation. It is still high, due to a variety of reasons. We are determined to bring it down. While the wholesale price has fallen from 11-12 per cent to 6–7 per cent, we have still not been able to bring down retail inflation. We are looking into this, seeing if the monetary policy framework requires modifications and if necessary, we are ready to look into it.”
Courtesy: The Hindu
