Challenges ahead of policymakers as factory output remains weak in February

Industrial output of the country barely grew in February and retail inflation slowed slightly for the first time in six months in March, yet it's welcomed as experts were rather expecting a contraction. Experts' optimism is also backed by a slight drop in consumer price inflation, which is unlikely by itself to put pressure on the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates, but still remains in double digits. Has the economy bottomed out? Experts, Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at CARE Ratingsl; Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at Bank of Baroda; Shantanu Dasgupta, vice president of corporate affairs and strategy at Whirlpool India, and Ajay Bhat, group CFO of Monnet Ispat, discuss whether a lower consumer inflation leaves more headroom for the apex bank to cut rates.