India Holds Interest Rates Steady Amid Slow Growth

 India's central bank kept interest rates unchanged Monday in a bid to curb¹ inflation, despite pressure to cut rates to spur lagging economic growth.

The Reserve Bank kept the rate at 8 percent, and the cash reserve rate for banks at 4.75 percent.

The bank said a further rate cut could make inflation worse. It cited several factors in the economic slowdown, particularly in investment, but said that the role of interest rates is "relatively² small."

The bank had been under pressure to cut interest rates after India's growth slowed to 5.3 percent in the period from January to March of this year -- the lowest point in nine years.

India has also been grappling with a steep depreciation³ of the rupee against the dollar.

Hours after India's central bank announced it was holding interest rates steady, Fitch Ratings said it was downgrading India's credit outlook from stable to negative, while maintaining India's rating at BBB-.

The U.S.-based rating agency said the revision reflects heightened risks that India's growth potential could deteriorate⁴ if structural⁵ reforms are not hastened -- including measures to enhance the effectiveness of the government.

Last week, another rating agency, Standard and Poor's, warned that India may become the first BRIC country (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) to lose its investment-grade status.

1 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 depreciation   

n.价值低落，贬值，蔑视，贬低

参考例句：

• She can't bear the depreciation of the enemy.她受不了敌人的蹂躏。
• They wrote off 500 for depreciation of machinery.他们注销了500镑作为机器折旧费。

4 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

5 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。