Both Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Trade Minister Piyush Goyal have reportedly called for lower borrowing costs to bolster lending demand and support a slowing economy. “At a time when we want industries to ramp up and build capacities, bank interest rates will have to be far more affordable,” the finance minister said at an event in Mumbai last month. The RBI chief Shaktikanta Das, however, has ruled out an immediate rate cut, though the central bank shifted its policy stance to “neutral” from a more restrictive “withdrawal of accommodation” in the October meeting.