RBI Repo Rate

TMS Ep406: RBI rate pause, food labelling, markets, Finance Commission

How will the economy fare as RBI pauses rate hikes? Why has food labelling become controversial? RBI policy done, what next for the markets? What is the Finance Commission? Answers here

This announcement is in line with the Reserve Bank of India's decision to keep the repo unchanged at 6.5%

In which we munch over the week's platter of news and views

Bankers welcomed the status quo in rates from RBI on Thursday, calling it as an attempt to support growth. The RBI move on the regulatory front announced along with the first policy review of FY2023-24 also found support from the banker community. Industry lobby Indian Banks Association chairman A K Goel, who is also the chief executive of Punjab National Bank, said it is a welcome pause which could surprise the market. "Focus of RBI in this policy is to support growth as it wants to evaluate the effects of the previous rate actions to fully get transmitted into the economy," he said. SBI chairman Dinesh Khara termed it a "pleasant surprise" given the market talks of one more final rate hike. "With uncertainty looming large, this decision was perfectly timed. Simultaneously, the bouquet of regulatory initiatives like linking UPI to credit and developing the onshore market will spur innovations in product offerings," Khara said. Zarn Daruwala of foreign lender Standard Chartered B

With India likely to harvest a record wheat output, the Centre on Thursday said it is confident of achieving wheat procurement target of 34.2 million tonne and will soon take a call on relaxing quality norms for buying in Punjab and Haryana in view of crop damage due to untimely rains. Earlier in the day while announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said the expectation of a record rabi harvest bodes well for easing of food price pressure. "There is already evidence of a correction in wheat prices in March on supply side interventions by the government. The impact of the recent unseasonal rains in some parts of the country, however, needs to be watched," the Governor said. Addressing a press conference, Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said the government is hopeful of a record wheat output of 112.2 million tonne in 2022-23 crop year ending June, despite inclement weather conditions in some parts of the country affecting grain quality. Th

The Reserve Bank of India's decision to keep key benchmark policy rate at 6.5 per cent is in line with expectations of the market, experts said on Thursday. The repo rate hike has been paused after six consecutive rate increases aggregating to 250 basis points since May 2022. Bandhan Bank Chief Economist Siddhartha Sanyal said, "RBI's pause on the repo rate is completely in line with our expectations." In fact, "the 6-0 voting in favour of a pause reflects that," he said. The six-member Monetary Policy Committee comprises three RBI officials and three external members appointed by the central government. With the likely softening of Consumer Price Index to low-to-mid five levels in the coming months, the real policy rate will hover around one per cent during the 2023-24 financial year, he said. Retail inflation in February stood at 6.44 per cent as compared to 6.52 per cent in the previous month. MPC takes into account retail inflation numbers for setting the interest rates. How

India Inc cheered the Reserve Bank's stance to hold key interest rate on Thursday terming it a "prudent" move in the wake of headwinds emanating from global banking stress and said the move will improve business sentiments by containing the rise in borrowing costs. Industry bodies cautioned that any further hike in the benchmark repo rate at this juncture would have affected India's economic growth even as domestic demand impulses remain healthy. Sanjiv Bajaj, President, CII said the industry body agrees with the central bank's observation that the lagged impact of the past rate hikes should be allowed to percolate into the system, and not stifle demand by further rate hikes. Though the domestic demand impulses remain healthy, headwinds from the global banking stress have gained pace, hence it was important for the central bank to remain cautious in its stance. This move by RBI will help bolster business sentiments by containing the rise in borrowing costs which have constricted th

CLOSING BELL: Shaktikanta Das said the move was only "a pause and not a pivot"

The rupee declined to an intraday low of at 82.06 per U.S. dollar versus 81.88 before the RBI policy announcement

Volatility in global financial market has potential upsides for imported inflation, says committee

Catch all the updates of the live address by Reserve Bank of India's Governor Shaktikanta Das on the decision by the Monetary Policy Committee on repo rate

The standing deposit facility rate and the marginal standing facility rate also remained unchanged

An unchanged repo rate may propel rate sensitive stocks to rise up to 15 per cent

RBI repo rate: The MPC decision to hit the pause is for this policy cycle only, says RBI governor Shaktikanta Das

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour

Policy decisions this week from some of the Reserve Bank of India's global peers offer a good reason for the split

The Nifty 50 closed 0.91% higher at 17,557.05, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.99% to 59,689.31. Both the benchmarks have extended gains for a fourth session in a row

The RBI's rate-setting panel on Monday started its three-day meeting amid expectations that the central bank may go for 25 basis points hike in benchmark interest rate, probably the last in the current monetary tightening cycle that began in May 2022. Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das-headed Monetary Policy Committee during its three-day meeting (April 3, 5 and 6) will take into account various domestic and global factors before coming out with the first bi-monthly monetary policy for fiscal 2023-24. The decision of the six-member rate setting panel will be announced by the Governor on Thursday. The central bank has already increased repo rate by a total of 250 basis points since May in a bid to contain inflation, though it has continued to remain above the RBI's comfort zone of 6 per cent most of the time. The two key factors which the committee is expected to deliberate intensely while firming up the next monetary policy are elevated retail inflation and the recent action tak

RBI's interest rate decision, macroeconomic data and global trends would dictate terms in the equity market in a holiday-shortened week, analysts said. Besides, the focus will also be on foreign portfolio investors' trading activity, they added. Equity markets will remain closed on Tuesday for 'Mahavir Jayanti' and on Friday on account of 'Good Friday'. "Investment by FIIs, who are turning out to be small net buyers, and DIIs will be monitored. The market will also have an eye on the RBI MPC meeting. The RBI policy outcome is scheduled for April 6," said Pravesh Gour, Senior Technical Analyst, Swastika Investmart Ltd. From auto sales data, Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors reported their highest-ever dispatches to dealers last fiscal, enabling the domestic passenger vehicle industry to log in the best-ever performance to date. "This week is also a holiday-shortened one and scheduled events and data would keep participants busy. On the macroeconomic front, S&P global ...

Inflation in Asia's third-largest economy remains above the central bank's upper tolerance limit of 6.00%, reaching 6.52% in January and easing only slightly to 6.44% in February