India's central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Friday, as widely expected.
The Monetary Policy Committee governed by Shaktikanta Das unanimously decided to hold the policy repo rate at 6.50 percent. The RBI has lifted the benchmark rate by 250 basis points since May 2022.
"The MPC also decided to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation progressively aligns to the target, while supporting growth," the bank said.
The committee observed that headline inflation is ruling above the tolerance band and its alignment with the target is getting interrupted. In order to bring inflation down, monetary policy needs to remain actively disinflationary.
Consumer price inflation is projected at 5.4 percent for 2023-24, unchanged from the previous outlook. At the same time, real GDP growth outlook for 2023-24 was retained at 6.5 percent.
