The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the 2010-11 Union Budget was in sync with its monetary policy and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had taken into consideration the Apex Bank’s demands and said that it would come out with guidelines for licensing new private banks.

Talking to newsmen here, RBI Deputy Governor Usha Thorat said that moving in the fiscal consolidation path, the Finance Minister had contained the fiscal deficit at 5.5 per cent for next fiscal and 4.8 per cent in FY2012 and 4.1 per cent in FY2013.

‘Overall one could say the budget was positive’ in the eyes of RBI, she added.

Replying to a question she said that the gross government market borrowings next year of Rs 450,000 crore, including Rs 112,000 crore of government securities that would come up for redemption, would not crowd out the credit requirements of the industry and RBI would manage the borrowings effectively without any problem to the private sector requirements.

On issuing fresh bank licences, she said that the Finance Minister had made the announcement just now and RBI would work out the guidelines and issue them. She however, would not give the timeframe within which the guidelines would be issued adding that the last private sector bank launched was in 2004 when Yes Bank was launched.

A whole lot of issues are involved and the Apex bank would revisit the earlier ownership and governance guidelines before calling for fresh licences for which, according to Mr Mukherjee even Non Banking Financial Companies could apply.

‘It could be any corporate with the required formalities’ she added.

UNI