Special 
At 5.09 percent in February, inflation stayed largely unchanged from 5.10 percent in the month before. RBI Monetary Policy live updates: Repo is the rate at which the central bank lends money to banks for the short term. Between May 2022 and February 2023, the rate-setting panel raised the repo rate by 250 basis points (bps) but has since held it steady. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
The RBI doesn’t want to lower its guard on inflation too early and lose the gains yet as it focuses on bringing down inflation to the 4 percent medium-term target on a sustainable basis.
"It may be too pre mature for India to relent on rate cuts ahead of U.S. Fed for now. Growth projections are modest and seem achievable, headline inflation too... is broadly in line with our expectations," Lakshmi Iyer, CEO-Investment & Strategy, Kotak Alternate Asset Managers Limited said.
The RBI's decision to maintain status quo is a welcome development for the Indian housing market, said Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Head – Research and REIS, India, JLL.
Anuj Puri says keeping the repo rate unchanged will help sustain the momentum in real estate sector. "The decision to maintain status quo will keep the ongoing residential real estate sales momentum on course and unimpeded. Aspiring homebuyers eyeing a purchase will proceed with confidence," the Anarock chairman said
Now proposed to facilitate cash deposits at CDMs using UPI, to make cash handling at banks easier
India's forex reserves reached all-time high of USD 645.6 billion as of March 29, said Guv Das.
RBI will introduce a mobile app for its retail direct portal. The central bank to take up comprehensive review of liquidity coverage ratio norms for banks, he said.
The central bank remains confident of meeting external requirements, said Shaktikanta Das. It is RBI’s prime focus to build strong buffer in the form of substantial forex reserves.
Current Account Deficit for FY25 is expected to remain at a level that is both viable and eminently manageable.
Prospects of investment activity remain bright because of persisting and robust govt capital expenditure, Healthy balance sheets of banks and corporates, increasing capacity utilisation, strengthening business optimism, he says.
With rural demand catching up, consumption is expected to improve in 2024-25}
}Industrial activity led by manufacturing continued its momentum
PMI for manufacturing displayed sustained expansion in February, March.
Services exhibited broad-based buoyancy with all sectors registering strong growth.
Services PMI remained above 60 in Feb and March
Global economy has remained resilient, says the RBI Governor, adding that global trade is expected to grow fast in 2024.
Services inflation remains sticky in advanced economies.
Equity markets have gained while bond yields, dollar remained volatile.
Inflation moving closer to targets, but last mile turning out to be challenging.
Debt to GDP ratio remained elevated
Monetary policy must continue to be deflationary, says Shaktikanta Das, MPC will remain resolute in its commitment to aligning inflation with target, he says.
Core inflation declined steadily over the last month, says RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. Fuel component of CPI remained in deflation for six months, Das says, adding that robust growth prospects provide policy space to remain focused on inflation
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das is set to announce RBI MPC's decision on key interest rates today at around 10:00 am. The RBI governor's speech will streamed online on the RBI's official YouTube channel and official social media handle on X.
June 5-7, 2024
August 6-8, 2024
October 7-9, 2024
December 4-6, 2024
February 5-7, 2025
-- Benchmark interest rate or repo rate kept unchanged at 6.5%
-- GDP growth for FY25 projected at 7%, lower than 7.3% this fiscal
-- Retail inflation to average 5.4% this fiscal, to come down to 4.5% in FY25
--Monetary transmission by financial institutions still remains incomplete
-- Current economic momentum to sustain in the next fiscal
In the February 8 meeting, RBI said that after remaining in surplus during April-August 2023, system-level liquidity turned into a deficit from September after a gap of four and a half years but adjusted for government cash balances, potential liquidity in the banking system was still in surplus.
Rupee recently touched record lows, led by external cues and the absence of strong intervention by the central bank. With Fed rate cuts expected to begin from June, dollar strength is likely to wane, which would be a tailwind for INR, said a research note by Bank of Baroda.
With growth in the first three quarters of FY24 standing north of 8%, the official forecast might be raised, along with a small upside bias for FY25 GDP numbers, said Radhika Rao, economist at DBS Bank.
While food price inflation increased to 8.7% in February, core inflation—excluding food and fuel—eased to 3.4%. This is the lowest since, at least, 2018.
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