New Delhi: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will take place from April 3-5. Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das-headed MPC will be the first bi-monthly monetary policy of fiscal 2024-25.
The central regulatory bank has kept the repo rate unchanged for a year. The RBI last hiked the repo rate to 6.5 per cent in February 2023 and since then it has held the rate at the same level in its last MPC meetings.
It may be noted that central banks of some major economies like the United States and United Kingdom are apparently in wait-and-watch mode on interest rate cuts. RBI’s rate-setting panel is expected to take cue from the central banks of some major and keep the rates unchanged.
RBI may hold rate yet again: Experts
“Given that inflation is still in the 5 per cent range and there is a possibility of future shocks on the food inflation front, the MPC is expected to maintain the status quo on rate and stance this time,” said Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda.
Sabnavis predicted there can be a revision in the GDP forecast, which will be eagerly awaited.
“The growth in FY24 has been much better than expected, and hence, the central bank will have less concerns here and will continue focusing on targeting inflation,” Sabnavis added.
Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, Icra, also believed that the RBI policy is unlikely to be changed before the August 2024 MPC review as the central bank would wait for monsoon turnout and the US Fed’s rate decisions.
Ranen Banerjee, Partner and Leader Economic Advisory, PwC India, also opined that the MPC is most likely going to be in the pause mode again in regards to repo rate.
Nitin Gupta, Secretary, CREDAI NCR, Bhiwadi Neemrana, expressed hope for a marginal reduction in the repo rate.
