New Delhi, Dec. 3: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to cut interest rates along with other central banks over the next three days as part of a globally co-ordinated effort.

On its part, the Centre is likely to announce cuts in excise duties on commercial vehicles and take other measures this weekend to boost growth.

Among the central banks lining up for a possible rate cut tomorrow are the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.

As a follow-up to yesterday’s meeting of top policy-makers called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, finance ministry and RBI officials are expected to discuss changes in the repo and reverse repo rates.

Repo is the rate at which the RBI lends to commercial banks, while the reverse repo is the rate at which banks lend to the RBI.

Finance ministry officials said they hoped inflation, which fell to 8.84 per cent last week, would decline further, giving the RBI leeway to change the rates.

A reduction in the repo rate may bring down the cost of borrowings for personal purposes, homes and cars.

The government’s stimulus package for automobiles, homes and exports was fine-tuned this evening at a meeting between cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar and a committee of top bureaucrats headed by finance secretary Arun Ramanathan.

Among the growth boosters are a Rs 2,000-crore package for exporters, the cuts in excise duties on commercial vehicles and a line of credit for non-banking financial companies, and the housing and automobile sectors.

In addition, infrastructure may get a budgetary support of Rs 15,000 crore.

The proposed excise break will give commercial vehicles a much-needed relief.

However, transport analyst S.P. Singh said there had been instances in the past of firms not passing on the benefits of the cuts to consumers.

Analysts also expect tax sops for textiles and other export-oriented industries, which have suffered from the global financial crisis.

“Work on a bailout package for these sectors is in full swing and steps can be expected this week itself,” the officials said.