The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy committee (MPC) on Friday announced its decision to continue the repo rate hike pause at 6.5 per cent for the fourth time in a row. Announcing the MPC’s decision, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said that the decision was unanimous.
Das added that with a majority of 5:1, the MPC decided to continue to focus on withdrawal of accommodation.
The RBI MPC had decided to first pause the rate hike in April after raising it by 250 basis points (bps) cumulatively since May 2022.
In the RBI MPC policy announcement, Das said that India is poised to become the new growth engine of the world.
“We have identified high inflation as major risk to macroeconomic stability and growth,” he said. He added that the RBI is committed to bring it under the tolerance limit.
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Das said that inflation will cool down further in September given the softening of food prices. However, fall in kharif sowing may pose a threat to it.
The Centre has mandated the RBI to ensure the consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation remains at 4 per cent, with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.
First Published: Oct 6 2023 | 10:09 AM IST