Monetary Policy

Risk weight back to pre-pandemic level of 50%

After six consecutive hikes aggregating 250 bps, RBI hits a pause

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday made it clear that the decision to hold rates should be seen as a pause, and not as a pivot. The rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will act on the rates as and when necessary, Das said. "If I have to characterise today's monetary policy in just one line...it's a pause, not a pivot," Das told reporters in the customary interaction with reporters after the announcement of the policy review. Earlier in the day, the six-member MPC voted unanimously to keep the repurchase or repo rate unchanged at 6.50 per cent, surprising analysts who were expecting the central bank to make a final 25 basis points hike before opting to pause. Das said RBI is keen to assess the cumulative impact of the rate actions done till now. There has been a cumulative hike of 250 basis points since May 2022. Deputy Governor Michael Patra said RBI has marginally upped its FY24 growth estimate to 6.5 per cent primarily on assumption of a decline in the ..

RBI has raised the policy rate by 250 bps since May 2022 to 6.5%, making it the most aggressive policy tightening cycle in a decade

The two key factors which the committee will deliberate intensely while firming up the next monetary policy are elevated retail inflation

Rebasing CPI necessary to make index relevant to present consumption patterns

Many believe that the committee may go for another 25 basis point hike in repo at the April policy

Economic expansion may be under pressure as the "full-blown impact" of the Reserve Bank of India's 250 basis point hike in borrowing cost since May gets transmitted to end-consumers, Crisil Ltd., the

Systematic investment plan inflows are the cornerstone for the mutual fund industry's growth, he says

Standard policies towards inflation have not helped. It is important to think out of the box

"Indian equities should catch up with global peers with a good probability of outperformance in the second half of this year"

The PBOC will adjust monetary policy at the appropriate time, Deputy Governor Liu Guoqiang said at the briefing

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday launched two key surveys, results of which provide "useful inputs" for the central bank's bi-monthly monetary policy. One of the surveys is to know inflation expectations of households and the other is to gauze the consumer confidence. The March 2023 round of Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH), RBI said, aims at capturing subjective assessments on price movements and inflation, based on their individual consumption baskets, across 19 cities. The cities are: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi and Thiruvananthapuram. "The survey seeks qualitative responses from households on price changes (general prices as well as prices of specific product groups) in the three months ahead as well as in the one year ahead period and quantitative responses on current, three months ahead and one year ahead inflation rate

However, lender has a limited period festive season offer, under which borrowers with credit scores of 760 and above can get home loans at 8.7% till March 31

Investors were also nervous ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's meeting later Wednesday

Following the RBI MPC's repo rate hike earlier this month, many banks like Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, and Punjab National Bank have also hiked their key lending rates

Inflation remains a concern for the RBI

There is no proposal to increase the overseas investment limits for domestic mutual funds at the moment, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters at the customary post-policy review press conference, Das acknowledged that there have been requests from mutual funds and other market players for relaxations of the limits. "We have examined that. But we have not taken a positive decision on it yet. There is no proposal to increase the limits at the moment," Das said. Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar said the same issue had come up a year ago as well and it was decided to maintain the status quo then. It can be noted that there is an overall industry-level limit of USD 7 billion for mutual funds. The RBI regulates the fund inflows and outflows into the country. Capital markets regulator Sebi had in June last year permitted mutual funds to again invest in foreign stocks within the aggregate mandated limit of USD 7 billion after a correction in stocks.

These vending machines will dispense coins against a debit to the customer's account. The process will use Unified Payments Interface (UPI) instead of physical tendering of notes

RBI monetary policy: In December, Das had said that despite consecutive rate hikes, core inflation had continued to remain 'sticky'