The Reserve Bank of India-led Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has announced its decision to retain the repo rate at 6.5 per cent for the sixth time in a row. With a majority of 5:1, the MPC has chosen to stay focused on keeping the withdrawal of accommodation stance unchanged.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) projects a 7% real GDP growth for the upcoming financial year 2024–25, up from the previous projection of 6.6%. This projection includes a growth rate of 7.2% in Q1, 6.8% in Q2, 7% in Q3, and 6.9% in Q4.
While maintaining its withdrawal of accommodation stance, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also highlighted that the inflation rate was persistently high above the RBIs comfort range of 4%. On D-Street, while the Nifty PSU Bank index was trading about 3% higher led by SBI, Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto fell about 1% each. Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank led the downside with a dip of 2% each. Among auto stocks, Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki, and Sona Comstar fell 2% each.
The CBDC Retail (CBDC-R) pilot currently allows for Person to Person (P2P) and Person to Merchant (P2M) transactions using Digital Rupee wallets provided by selected banks. Now, the RBI plans to expand its use cases by introducing programmability, which will allow government agencies to ensure payments are made for specific benefits, while letting companies allocate funds for expenses such as business travel.
India s foreign exchange reserves stood at $622.5 billion for the week ending on February 2, said Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday while announcing key decisions taken by the MPC.