Ruling out all the speculations and the demands of industries to reduce higher interest rate, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - the Master Bank - Tuesday has kept all key policy rates and reserve ratios unchanged in a review Tuesday in order to arrest inflation.
However, the apex bank has also said that its focus now shifts towards spurring growth that has taken a hit in recent months.
"In view of inflation pressures ebbing, monetary policy has to increasingly shift focus and respond to the threats to growth from this point onward," the central bank said in a statement on its mid-quarter review of the monetary policy.
"Overall, recent inflation patterns and projections provide a basis for reinforcing our October guidance about policy easing in the fourth quarter. However, risks to inflation remain and accordingly, even as the policy emphasis shifts towards growth, the policy stance will remain sensitive to these risks."
Accordingly, the bank rate remains unchanged at 9 percent, the repurchase (repo) rate at 8 percent, reverse repo rate at 7 percent, the cash reserve ratio at 4.25 percent and statutory liquidity ratio at 23 percent.
In the second quarter review of monetary policy Oct 30, the RBI had lowered the CRR by 0.25 percent, but had kept unchanged the repo and reverse repo rates, which determine lending and borrowing rates by commercial banks.
As per latest data released last week, the annual rate of inflation based on wholesale price index declined to a 10-month low of 7.24 percent in November against 7.45 percent in the previous month, according to the government data released last week.
But the growth in the country's gross domestic product in the second quarter of this fiscal at 5.3 percent was marginally lower than the 5.5 percent logged during the first quarter - which has been a matter of concern for all stakeholders.
--With IANS Inputs--
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