Clearly, the battle lines between the RBI and the government are drawn. The pressure is on the RBI to soften its so called rigid stance to find a way out.

The government expects to garner at least Rs 5,000 crore through share buyback offers of state-run companies, including Coal India, in the current fiscal.

Petrol price Sunday was cut by 20 paise a litre and diesel by 18 paise, the 29th straight daily reduction in rates that has wiped away all of the massive price increase in petrol witnessed in two months since mid-August.

The present government, Panagariya said, has made a huge progress in implementing reforms including some difficult structural ones such as the GST and IBC that previous governments had difficulty in introducing.