Finance Minister Arun Jaitley favours cut in bank interest rates

The time is right for the central bank to cut interest rate due to falling inflation, the finance minister Arun Jaitley told reporters on Friday.

"It is," said Jaitley, when asked whether the time is right for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to effect an interest rate cut.

The RBI will review its monetary policy on June 2 and is widely expected by economists to lower its key policy rate by 25 basis points on the back of the sharp fall in both retail and wholesale prices.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar Editing by Malini Menon)