New Delhi | Jagran Business Desk: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday kept the key lending rates unchanged for the 11th consecutive time. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced that the repo rate will remain unchanged at 4 per cent while the reverse repo rate will also remain stable at 3.35 per cent. The RBI also decided to continue with its accommodative stance despite rising inflation.
The decision to keep the key lending rates unchanged was taken during the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting today, which was the first in the current financial year.
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The Repo rate is the interest rate that the RBI charges when commercial banks borrow money from it. The interest rate that the RBI pays to commercial banks when they park their excess cash with the central bank is called the reverse repo rate.
This is the 11th time in a row that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has maintained the status quo. RBI had last revised its policy repo rate or the short-term lending rate on May 22, 2020, in an off-policy cycle to perk up demand by cutting the interest rate to a historic low.
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Meanwhile, the RBI has also cut the GDP growth projection to 7.2 per cent from Meanwhile, the RBI has also cut the GDP growth projection to 7.2 per cent from 7.8 per cent for the Financial Year 2023.
“Real GDP Growth for the year 2022-23 is now projected at 7.2 per cent with Q1 2022-23 at 16.2 per cent, Q2 at 6.2 per cent, Q3 at 4.1 per cent and Q4 at 4 per cent, assuming crude oil that is Indian basket at USD 100 per barrel during the year 2022- 23”, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das after the MPC review meeting.
“Edible oil prices are likely to stay elevated in the near term. Spike in crude oil since end-Feb poses a substantial risk to inflation. Inflation projection frought with risk, contingent on global crude prices”, Das added.
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RBI ups inflation target for FY23 to 5.7 pc:
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday raised the retail inflation target for the current financial year to 5.7 per cent on the back of rising global prices amidst the ongoing geopolitical tensions, even as it expected the prices of cereals and pulses to soften on prospects of good winter crop harvest. In its earlier policy review in February, the RBI had projected retail inflation to be at 4.5 per cent in 2022-23.
“Global food prices along with metal prices have hardened significantly. Economy is grappling with a sharp rise in inflation… Inflation is now projected at 5.7 per cent in 2022-23 with Q1 at 6.3 per cent; Q2 at 5 per cent; Q3 at 5.4 per cent and Q4 at 5.1 per cent,” RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said.
