Stating he did not expect any hike in interest rates by the commercial banks, the Minister said they had enough funds to meet credit demands and that the onus of coming up with large investment projects rests with the industry.

'All over the world thinking in changing. The mandate of a central bank must not only be price stability. The mandate of central bank must be seen as part of larger mandate which includes price stability, growth and maximising employment,' he said.

Chidambaram's statement comes on the eve of Reserve Bank's first quarter monetary review in which the central bank is expected to address the several conflicting concerns including volatile exchange rate, liquidity crunch and slowing growth.

RBI Governor D Subbarao had last week met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram and is believed to have discussed the current macro-economic situation.

'I have tried to argue that while I acknowledge that the central banks mandate is price stability, price stability must be seen as part of larger mandate of growth and employment,' said Chidambaram while speaking at a function here.

Admitting, the world over governments and central banks have not been on the same page, he said, 'in fact this antagonism between central bank and government is very functional antagonism, a healthy antagonism. I am not saying it is unhealthy, it is perhaps healthy'.

RBI has been maintaining a tight monetary stance overlooking the pressure from the government as well as the industry for a steep cut in interest rate to promote sagging growth.

PTI