The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its bi-monthly monetary policy review has decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 4.0 per cent. The rate remained unchanged for the eleventh time in a row. The reverse repo rate also remained unchanged at 3.35 per cent. The marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate remain unchanged at 4.25 per cent. The standing deposit facility (SDF) rate, which will now be the floor of the LAF corridor, will be at 3.75 per cent.
The MPC also decided to remain accommodative while focusing on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward, while supporting growth. These decisions are in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 per cent within a band of +/- 2 per cent, while supporting growth.
Further, it stated that the real GDP growth for 2022-23 is projected at 7.2 per cent, with Q1 at 16.2 per cent; Q2 at 6.2 per cent; Q3 at 4.1 per cent; and Q4 at 4.0 per cent, with risks broadly balanced. Besides, CPI inflation is projected at 5.7 per cent in 2022-23, with Q1 at 6.3 per cent; Q2 at 5.8 per cent; Q3 at 5.4 per cent; and Q4 at 5.1 per cent.
