Team News Riveting
Raipur, February 10
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das quoted the famous song from Guide “aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai” in which Late Lata Mangeshkar gave her immortal voice before after announcing to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent.
RBI’s bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep both repo rates and reverse repo rates unchanged. Das said it maintained an accommodative stance and would continue with it as long as necessary for a “durable and broad-based recovery” citing concerns over inflation and new COVID-19 variant, Omicron.
The Repo rate or the bench mark interest rate has been left unchanged at 4 per cent while the reverse repo rate is 3.35 per cent. “Overall taking into consideration the outlook for inflation and growth, in particular the comfort provided by improving inflation outlook, the uncertainties related to Omicron and global spillovers, the committee was of the view that continued policy support is warranted for a durable and broad-based recovery,” Das said.
The RBI had last revised its policy repo rate or the short-term lending rate on May 22, 2020.
Capacity utilisation is rising subsequently aiding in investment demand. RBI maintained consumer price index (CPI) inflation forecast of 5.3 per cent for financial year 2021-22 (FY22). RBI forecasts FY23 CPI inflation at 4.5 per cent. It also forecasts Q1FY23 CPI at 4.9 per cent, Q2 at 5 percent, Q3 at 4 per cent and Q4 at 4.2 per cent.
Closing his speech, Governor Das cited late Lata Mangeshkar saying her song “aaj phir jeena kee tamana hai” encapsulates what the RBI has been trying to do. “As the great Lata Mangeshkar – whom we lost recently – sang in her immortal voice: “aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai”. Together with the spirit behind the next line of this beautiful song, she has conveyed an eternal message of optimism,” Das said.
