The Reserve Bank of India is expected to raise interest rates today for the third time since the beginning of the current financial year to bring down inflation from above the upper threshold of the central bank's target since January. The focus shifts to the RBI's growth and inflation outlook and the tone of the monetary policy path.
The Reserve Bank of India will likely hike interest rates for the third time since the current fiscal year began in April. But the central bank's dilemma has multiplied, with pressing economic risks becoming a deeper concern for policymakers.
The Reserve Bank of India hiked its key lending rate by 50 basis points, which was at the higher end of market expectations, to 5.40 per cent. That increase takes the repo rate to pre-pandemic level, the highest since 2019 and the third hike in a row.
The Reserve Bank of India raised its key interest rate by 50 basis points on Wednesday, taking the repo rate to 4.9 per cent, and raised its inflation projection for the current fiscal to 6.7 per cent, well above the upper-end of its target range of 2-6 per cent.