RBI MPC Meeting 2024: Repo rate remains unchanged at 6.5% for the ninth consecutive time.
Arpit Pattnaik
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, Shaktikanta Das, announced the Monetary Policy decision today (August 8). The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held its third bi-monthly policy meeting from August 6 to August 8. RBI kept its key interest rate unchanged, as widely expected, as the central bank continued its efforts to sustainably lower inflation towards its 4% target. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.50% for a ninth straight policy meeting.
Radhika Rao, senior economist at DBS Bank, said, “Policy guidance reinforced that domestic considerations will be prioritized, despite a sharp buildup in rate cut pricing for the US Fed. The RBI MPC retained its cautious tone on inflation, in the face of anticipated passthrough from perishables price pressures and tariff adjustments. With domestic demand conditions calling for a focus on inflation, we expect the policy rate to stay on hold for the rest of the year.”
Experts widely expected the RBI MPC to keep the benchmark repo rate unchanged at 6.5% and maintain the policy stance of ‘withdrawal of accommodation’.
In June, the RBI MPC voted 4-2 to maintain the repo rate at 6.5% for the eighth consecutive time and persist with its stance of ‘withdrawal of accommodation’. The RBI then revised its GDP growth forecast for FY25 to 7.2%, up from the previous estimate of 7%, and the inflation forecast for FY25 remained unchanged at 4.5%.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is scheduled to hold MPC meetings on these dates: October 7-9, December 4-6, and February 5-7, 2025.
