In 1st Monetary Policy After Budget, RBI Keeps Key Lending Rates Unchanged

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept its key interest rate unchanged for the ninth consecutive time, its governor Shaktikanta Das announced today.

A six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by Mr Das kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent.

The decision was announced after the RBI's rate-setting panel's three-day deliberations, which began on Tuesday. It was the first MPC meeting after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for the fiscal 2024-25 last month.

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The committee, which consists of three RBI and three external members, voted 4:2 to keep the repo rate unchanged. It had last changed rates in February 2023.

"Inflation is broadly on the declining trajectory," Mr Das said in the monetary policy statement.

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He also said that the global economic outlook exhibits steady, though "uneven expansion".

The MPC also kept the growth projection unchanged at 7.2 per cent for the current financial year.

The RBI governor said that new technologies like AI "pose a new set of challenges" for the global economy.

Strong GDP growth in the Indian economy has allowed the RBI to remain focused on inflation control. Despite some slowdown expected from the 8.2% expansion in fiscal 2024, India will remain among the fastest-growing economies globally if its 7.2% expected growth is achieved.

Meanwhile, the stock market opened on a bearish note today ahead of the monetary policy announcement.

While Sensex declined 251.76 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 79,216.25 points, the Nifty fell 83.80 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 24,213.70 points.