The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Friday maintained policy interest rates and its monetary stance for the seventh straight review meeting citing an uncertain food prices trajectory and the elbow room provided by robust economic growth, thus pushing back the start of a much-anticipated rate easing cycle while extending a status quo to at least 16 months.
Reserve Bank of India Monetary Policy: The RBI today left inflation estimate for fiscal 2025 unchanged at 4.5% amid rising concerns over soaring crude oil prices and supply chain disruptions due to the Red Sea crisis. Food inflation remains a concern after it climbed to 8.7% in February, driving overall inflation, while Brent and WTI futures have now surged on geopolitical tensions.
"I have also noticed that since the beginning of the year, there has been a lot of interest in buying Indian rupees, not against the US dollar but against some of the other Asian currencies, especially the RMB (Chinese currency)," said Patrick Law, Head of Asia Pacific Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities Trading, Bank of America.