RBI keeps repo, reverse repo rates unchanged for 10th time in a row

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das-led six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Thursday voted unanimously to keep the repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent. The rate remained unchanged for the tenth time in a row. 

The reverse repo rate also remains unchanged at 3.35 per cent, Das said after the MPC meeting. With a 5:1 majority, the rate-setting panel of the RBI also decided to retain the accommodative policy stance to support economic growth and recovery, he added. 

“India is charting a different course of recovery than the rest of the world, to be the fastest-growing economy,” Das said.

The MPC also decided to keep the marginal standing facility (MSF) unchanged at 4.25%. It pegged the GDP growth rate at 7.8 per cent for FY23 and project the CPI-based inflation at 4.5 per cent in the same period.

Also Read: RBI projects real GDP growth for 2022-23 at 7.8%

"The MPC is of the view that continued policy support is warranted for a durable and broad-based recovery," Das noted.

The experts had expected the RBI to hike the reverse repo rate by around 15-40 basis points (bps). 

The MPC meeting, which was slated for February 7-9, 2022, was rescheduled by a day in view of the Maharashtra govt declaring a public holiday on February 7 to mourn the death of legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar.  

Also Read: RBI likely to maintain status quo in policy rate next week: Experts

The last MPC held in December 2021 had also kept the benchmark interest rate (repo rate) unchanged at 4 per cent and decided to continue with its accommodative stance against the backdrop of concerns over the emergence of the new coronavirus variant Omicron.  

The Reserve Bank has been tasked by the government to keep the interest rate in the range of 2-6 per cent.