New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its bi-monthly policy statement announced on Wednesday maintained status quo on key rates. The central bank kept key interest rates unchanged for the ninth time in a row. The MPC kept the policy repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent and maintained a lenient stance.
The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by Governor Shaktikanta Das announced monetary policy amid economic uncertainties raised by the new tensions of the Omicron edition.
The MSF rate and the bank rate remain unchanged at 4.25 per cent. The reverse repo rate also remained unchanged at 3.35 per cent.
Das said GDP grew by 13.7 per cent in the first half of 2021-22. Inflation is also broadly aligned with the target of 4 per cent barring short-term spikes.
Repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends money to commercial banks; Whereas reverse repo rate is the rate at which RBI borrows from banks.
The central bank’s forecast for real GDP growth has been retained at 9.5 per cent in 2021-22, which includes 6.6 per cent in Q3 and 6 per cent in Q4. Real GDP growth is projected at 17.2 per cent for the first quarter of 2022-23 and 7.8 per cent for the second quarter of 2022-23.
Das said, “The increase in purchasing power from the recent cut in excise duty and state VAT on petrol and diesel should support consumption demand. Government consumption has also been rising since August, supporting aggregate demand.” ”
In the last policy review in October, the central bank had kept key lending rates unchanged for eight consecutive times and kept the monetary stance as ‘accommodative’. A liberal stance refers to the rating panel’s willingness to cut rates or remain on hold. Repo is the rate at which the central bank lends short-term money to banks.
Kovid-19 The new strain Omicron, which was first identified by South African scientists, is once again a matter of concern for India’s economy. The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially named the new variant as B.1.1.1.529.
According to WHO, the first known confirmed case of the new variant was from a sample collected on November 9 this year. The cases of omicron are spreading rapidly in India. More than 20 cases have been reported in the last one week.
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