Amid apprehensions over inflation and continued uncertainty with regard to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to retain the benchmark interest rate at the existing levels at its upcoming monetary policy review, feel experts.
The next bi-monthly monetary policy review is scheduled to be announced on June 4, following the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) beginning Wednesday. The meeting of RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das-headed rate setting panel is scheduled for June 2 to 4.
The RBI had kept key interest rates unchanged after the last the MPC meeting held in April.
The key lending rate, the repo rate, was kept at 4 per cent and the reverse repo rate or the central bank’s borrowing rate at 3.35 per cent.
The RBI’s annual report, released last week, has already made it clear that “the conduct of monetary policy in 2021-22 would be guided by evolving macroeconomic conditions, with a bias to remain supportive of growth till it gains traction on a durable basis while ensuring that inflation remains within the target”.
