Expect 25-bp hike before RBI presses pause button

The rate-increase cycle, which started in May 2022, raising the policy rate from 4 to 6.25 per cent to fight entrenched inflation, is nearing its end

Later this week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will take a call on policy rate at the end of its rate-setting body, the Monetary Policy Committee’s, last meeting of FY23. The backdrop of the policy is the Union Budget and rate actions of four global central banks in the past fortnight.

The Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate, yet again, to 4.5 per cent. This is in line with expectations since it has been fighting hard with record high inflation. This is the eighth hike in less than a year but the smallest since March and signals