The RBI MPC unanimously decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged. "The monetary policy committee decided unanimously at 6.50% with a readiness to act if the situation so warrants," Shaktikanta Das said, adding that the repo rate hike has been paused only for this meeting.
"The repo rate has been maintained so that the MPC can assess the progress made so far, while closely monitoring the domestic and global situations. The MPC will not hesitate to raise the repo rate in future meetings," said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.
- February 8, 2023: Repo rate increased by 25 bps to 6.50%
- December 7, 2022: Repo rate increased by 35 bps to 6.25%
- September 30, 2022: Repo rate increased by 50 bps to 5.90%
- August 5, 2022: Repo rate increased by 50 bps to 5.40%
- June 8, 2022: Repo rate increased by 50 bps to 4.90%
- May 4, 2022: Repo rate increased by 40 bps to 4.40%
The RBI MPC, with a 5:1 majority, maintained the withdrawal of accommodation stance, announced RBI Governor Das.
When RBI MPC started the rate cut cycle in 2019, the CPI was around 2% and the repo rate was 6.5%. However, inflation is 6.4% currently while the repo rate is 6.5% and given its current level, the policy can still be seen as accommodative. "This is why the RBI MPC decided to maintain a withdrawal of accommodation stance," said Shaktikanta Das.
The Standing deposit facility will remain unchanged at 6.25%, and the marginal Standing Facility is also kept unchanged at 6.75%, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.
GDP grew 7% in 2022-23, indicating the economic conditions were resilient, said Shaktikanta Das. The real GDP growth for 2023-24 is projected at 6.5%. GDP growth is seen at 7.8% in Q1FY24, 6.2% in Q2, 6.1% in Q3, and 5.9% in Q4FY24.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that inflation has cooled off slightly, but still remains above RBI's threshold of 6%. Inflation is projected at 5.2% for 2023-24. 5.1% in Q1FY24, 5.4% in Q2 and Q3, and 5.2% in Q4FY24.
The Reserve Bank will maintain an agile approach for liquidity management and manage govt borrowing programme in non-disruptive manner, said Governor Shaktikanta Das.,
Domestic indices surged on Thursday after RBI MPC decided not to hike the repo rate, keeping the key lending rate at 6.5%. The NSE Nifty 50 was trading near 17,600 and Sensex jumped 140 points. Bank Nifty surpassed 41,150.