India cuts rates by 25 basis points: central bank

India's central bank Wednesday cut interest rates for the first time in almost a year, responding to a slowing economy and record low inflation.

The Reserve Bank of India said the benchmark repo rate -- the level at which it lends to commercial banks -- would be cut by 25 basis points to 6 percent, a near seven-year low.

The cut was predicted by 41 of 57 economists polled by Bloomberg News, with the rest anticipating no change.

The interest rate last sat at 6 percent in September 2010.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in June called for a reduction in the rate following a sharp fall in inflation in the world's fastest-growing major economy.

Retail inflation for June came in at 1.54 percent, down from 2.18 percent in May and the lowest since the government started tracking it in 2012.

New Delhi has kept an inflation target of 4 percent, with room for a 2 percent increase or decrease. The June data was the first time the lower end of that band has been breached, experts said.

(AFP)