The Reserve Bank of India has proposed measures to strengthen the domestic financial sector in response to the East Asian crisis but it left interest rates unchanged.

The measures include an increase in the minimum capital banks are required to keep in proportion to their assets from eight to nine percentThe bank's governor, Dr.

Bimal Jalan, said it would tighten the money supply in case of inflationary pressures or external developments.

He described India's banking system as inherently robust because of the economic reform of recent years.