RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 6.5%

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent with readiness to act should the situation warrant so.

Since May last year, the RBI has raised the repo rate six times to control runaway inflation.

The RBI projected inflation to be at 5.2 per cent in the financial year 2023-24, and at 5.1 per cent in first quarter of the fiscal.

The RBI governor said the current financial year pointed towards softening of inflation. The war against inflation will continue until there is a durable decline, he said.

Repo rate is the rate at which the RBI lends money to banks, and any change in it affects bank loans and EMIs.

Shaktikanta Das said the global economy is facing a renewed phase of turbulence and the RBI will remain focused on withdrawal of monetary policy accommodation. He said the policy decisions taken in May 2022 are still working through the system and the current policy rate remains accommodative.