RBI calls for ensuring faster rollout of affordable housing programme
Lowering stamp duty rates will reduce the overall home buying costs and will help stimulate home sales.
Moneycontrol News
On expected lines, the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday maintained status quo by keeping repo rate unchanged at 6 percent while calling for ensuring faster rollout of affordable housing programme with time bound single window clearances and rationalisation of excessive high stamp duties by states.
“The implementation of the GST so far also appears to have had an adverse impact, rendering prospects for the manufacturing sector uncertain in the short term. This may further delay the revival of investment activity, which is already hampered by stressed balance sheets of banks and corporates,” RBI governor Urjit Patel said.
Listing a slew of measures to boost growth, he said the need of the hour was “a concerted drive to close the severe infrastructure gap; restarting stalled investment projects, particularly in the public sector; enhancing ease of doing business, including by further simplification of the GST; and ensuring faster rollout of the affordable housing programme with time-bound single-window clearances and rationalisation of excessively high stamp duties by states.”
While the unchanged repo rates may have dashed the hopes of lower borrowing costs for most households ahead of the festival season, the RBI governor laying emphasis on speedy execution of the affordable housing programme and the overall rationalisation of high stamp duty rates by states is noteworthy. Lowering stamp duty rates will reduce the overall home buying costs and will help stimulate home sales.
Interestingly, real estate stocks were up with Oberoi Realty rising over 1.34 percent and Godrej Properties jumping over 3 percent with Prestige Estates gaining 0.44 percent post the policy announcement.
