MUMBAI: FMCG major Marico has said that it would further slash advertising spends to offset input cost pressure and avoid price hike.

"Commodity prices are a big challenge for us...We have to manage cost in such a manner that we do not increase prices. So we have to look for other ways on how to cut cost," Marico chairman and MD Harsh Mariwala told PTI.

Mariwala also said that to reduce costs, the firm will probably cut down its advertising expenditure to about 9 per cent of the sales of the company.

"There will be impact on our advertising spend. We have to cut down on the other expenses in order to meet the challenge [input costs pressure]," he added.