RBI Monetary Policy Committee meeting: policy rate unchanged at 6.5%

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das delivers the Monetary Policy statement, in Mumbai. File photo
| Photo Credit: PTI

 The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Wednesday (October 9, 2024) decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.50% for the 10th consecutive time.

Of the six members of the MPC, five voted in favour of the decision, which is aimed at taming inflation.

Governor Shaktikanta Das announced the central bank’s decision on policy rates in the RBI’s concluding day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Wednesday. “The Flexible monitory policy framework has completed 8 years. This is major structural reform, “ Mr. Das said in a statement.

The RBI changes stance of monetary policy to ‘neutral’ from withdrawal of accomodation, Mr. Das said. In the backdrop of a good monsoon and adequate buffer stock, the food inflation will fall later in the year, Mr. Das said.

The meeting, which began on October 7, has garnered significant attention, as the RBI has maintained the repo rate at 6.50% for the past nine consecutive meetings, adopting a cautious stance to balance inflationary concerns with the need for economic growth.

Earlier on August 8, 2024, in its first meeting after the Union Budget, the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.50% for the ninth consecutive time.

(With inputs from agencies)