India? first housing price index, called the NHB Residex, will be launched by finance minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday.
The half-yearly index will be an authoritative indicator of how housing prices moved in cities, said Ashok Lahiri, chief economic adviser in the finance ministry.
The National Housing Bank, in collaboration with the finance ministry, has developed
the index. The Housing Starts Index, being developed by the RBI to track fresh construction activity in the sector, and the NHB, will give a clear picture of the trends in the sector, which is lack quality data.
Commenting on the present economic outlook, Lahiri said there was no upward pressure on interest rates. ?However, it is difficult to make a judgement on whether there is a downward or a flat trend in the rates as of now,? he added. The RBI is expected to announce its outlook on the interest rates at the end of this month for the next quarter. Lahiri will be moving out from the finance ministry as India?s executive director at the Asian Development Bank by the end of this week.
Speaking to FE before his departure, Lahiri said there was a need to sustain the momentum developed through the high growth rate logged by the economy over the past few years. This could be done by widespread investment in infrastructure like airports, ports, roads and power, he said.