The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said the Monetary Policy Committee decided unanimously to keep the Repo Rate unchanged at 6.50 per cent. The Central Bank decided to keep the policy rate unchanged for the third time in a row as it maintains heightened vigil on inflation.
Announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy, he said "Our economy has continued to grow at a reasonable pace becoming the 5th largest economy in the world, contributing around 15% to global growth."
The rate increase cycle was paused in April after six consecutive rate hikes aggregating to 250 basis points since May 2022.
He said the MPC will remain watchful of the inflation and remains resolute to its commitment to align inflation to the targeted level.
While keeping the interest rate intact, Das said headline inflation still remains above RBI's target of 4 per cent.
The MPC meeting took place against the backdrop of consumer price-based (CPI) inflation on some food items like tomato, wheat and rice that have witnessed surge in price in the last few weeks.
The government has mandated RBI to ensure CPI inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.