RBI Leaves Key Rates Unchanged: "Continued Policy Support Warranted"

New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday kept the repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent for the 10th time in a row and continued with "accommodative" stance. The reverse repo rate has also been kept unchanged at 3.35 per cent.

RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said that the decision has been taken as continued policy support was warranted to support economic growth.

The RBI chief stated that the GDP (gross domestic product) growth of 9.2 per cent in FY22 (2021-22) would take the economy above pre-pandemic level and projected 7.8 per cent growth for the next financial year 2022-23.

The Reserve Bank has pegged CPI or retail inflation at 5.3 per cent for FY22 and 4.5 per cent in 2022-23. The RBI mainly factors in retail inflation while arriving at its policy decision.

Further, the RBI governor said that the cap for e-RUPI digital voucher has been raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh.

Repo rate is the rate at which a central bank lends money to banks, and reverse repo rate is at which it borrows from commercial lenders.

RBI has held the key repo rate at record lows since May 2020 and reiterated time and again that it will remain supportive of growth and keep its stance accommodative until economic recovery is firmly entrenched.

The Reserve has been mandated by the government to keep the inflation in the range of 2-6 per cent.

The three-day meeting was delayed after Maharashtra declared a day of mourning on February 7 following the death of legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar.

Meanwhile, domestic indices BSE and NSE have gained more than half a per cent after the RBI policy decision.